Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!
by Azurixx
Summary: After a big battle against Eggman, Sonic and his friends get sucked into Mario's universe. At first, their main priority is to get back home, but they realize they must work together to stop an evil force, bigger than Eggman and Bowser's powers combined!
1. The Eggman Attacks!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**-The Mario World Saga-**

_**Chapter 1: The Eggman Attacks!**_

* * *

**_Empire City_**

It was a beautiful day in Empire City. The sky was clear, with a cloud no where in sight. The sun was shining brightly down on the high-rise metropolis city. It was like any other day. Cars were driving around the streets, people were minding their own business, birds were flying around...

...and a blue hedgehog was running on the rooftops.

"Yeah! This is perfect!" Sonic shouted out. He jumped from building to building. He enjoyed running at high speeds. With the wind against his face, he didn't feel like stopping. Until...

The blue hedgehog skidded to a stop. He sniffed the air.

"Do I smell chili dogs?" He looked below him. Sure enough, there was a hot dog vendor down on the sidewalk.

Chili dogs! One of Sonic's favourite foods! "Maybe I could take a small break." He said to himself, and jumped off the roof of the building, landing in front of the hot dog vendor. "One chili dog, please!"

The hot dog vendor, startled at first, happily prepared the chili dog. "That will be 50 rings, Mr. Sonic!"

Sonic took out 50 rings from his pocket and handed it to the hot dog vendor, getting the chili dog he'd bought. He thanked the vendor and started walking, eating his chili dog.

"Man, these things never get old." he said. He took a bite out of his chili dog. He decided to look around the street for a bit. He browsed a few shops. There were clothing shops, pet shops, a cafe, nothing much that looked interesting to him.

By the time he got to the corner of the street, he had finished his chili dog. Wiping some of the chili off his face, he prepared for another run.

"SONIC!" someone shouted. He turned around. No one looked like he was calling him.

"I must be hearing things." he said to himself. Shrugging it off, he did a few quick stretches.

"SONIC! UP HERE!" the voice called out. Startled, he looked again. No one.

"Is this a joke or something?" he said, scratching his head. "Wait, is that an airplane I hear?" He looked above him. It was Tails, who was piloting the Tornado II above him.

"Hi Sonic!" shouted Tails. He waved to Sonic.

"Hey Tails!" Sonic greeted. He waved back. "It's been awhile." He grinned. It was about a month since their last adventure, and Sonic was happy to see his fox buddy again. He noticed something. Someone else was in the Tornado. In the passenger seat, was a familiar pink hedgehog, who was looking at him with her light, green eyes. It was Amy.

He stopped waving. "Looks like you brought Amy along with you."

She waved back at him. "Don't act all surprised, Sonic."

He smiled. "Well anyway, what are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were at my house, watching the news, and one of the reports caught our attention." Tails explained. "It seems Eggman is causing havoc in the city's park!"

"Eggman?" Sonic wasn't all too surprised. He crossed his arms. "Hehe! Finally! I haven't had any good action all day! This'll be fun!" He did a spin-dash up one of the buildings and landed on the wing of the Tornado. "Okay Tails, fly us there!"

"Alright! Hang on tight." Tails started to fly the Tornado towards the Empire City's park, West Park.

"So, what's Eggman doing here in the city?" asked Sonic, keeping balance on the wing.

"The reporters never found out." Amy answered. "But we know he's caused a lot of damage and is scaring the people around that area."

Typical Eggman. Sonic thought. When is that guy going to give up?

They flew above the high-rising rooftops, going between buildings, twisting and turning. People were were in awe at the sight. Soon, they arrived at West Park. The park had lots of trees layed out. The grass was lush and green, with pathways for joggers to run on. There was a huge fountain in the middle of the park, spouting out water.

Sure enough, there was Eggman, piloting his Egg Hornet. He had a few Egg Pawns on the ground, scaring away people who came by.

"Hohoho!" the evil scientist laughed. "Anyone who interferes with my plan will face the consequences! This city will be mine!"

"Eggman!" Sonic shouted from the Tornado. "Stop harassing everyone!"

Eggman noticed Sonic and his friends, flying on the Tornado. "Well, if it isn't Sonic, my favourite hedgehog!"

"Heh! No need to dazzle me, Eggman!" Sonic said, waving his finger at him. "Flattering isn't going to help you!"

"Being your cocky self, am I right, Sonic?" Eggman taunted. "You remember my Egg Hornet, don't you?" The Egg Hornet was the Egg Mobile with three large engines attached to it. It was capable of firing missiles and plunging itself into the ground. "I call it, the Egg Hornet 2.0!"

"What's so different about it?" Tails asked.

"I've improved the engine speed, making it able to go 1.5x faster than before!"

Sonic jumped off the Tornado's wing, and landed on the ground near the group of Egg Pawns. "Ha! I'm still faster than that hunk-a-junk!"

"Sonic! Be careful!" Amy called out. Sonic gave a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, Amy! Sonic's got this!" assured Tails.

"Charge! My Egg Pawns!" Eggman commanded. The group of Egg Pawns all ran towards Sonic at once, prepared to take out the hedgehog.

"Too easy!" Sonic exclaimed. He jumped up into the air, and did a Homing Attack on one Egg Pawn, then another, then another. Each gave out an explosion, with parts flying in all directions. Sonic destroyed every one of them. He landed on the ground and pretended to yawn.

"Is that all you got? That was pretty boring."

"I've only just begun!" Eggman pushed a button on the Egg Hornet's control pad. Suddenly, missiles shot out and homed in on Sonic.

"Sonic! Watch out!" yelled Tails.

Sonic dodged the first missile with ease. He quickly jumped on to the second missile and jumped off it, making it fall to the ground. He did a Homing attack on the third missile, which exploded on impact.

"Not enough for you?" Eggman said. He pushed another button on the control pad. Suddenly, two large spikes popped out of the front of the Egg Hornet. "All systems, full power!" He aimed the ship towards Sonic, and charged towards him. Sonic, reacting quickly, got out of the ships way. The ship plunged deep into the ground.

"Gah! The ship's stuck!" Eggman realized. He tried all his might to get the ship out of the ground. Sonic, taking the opportunity, jumped on to the Egg Hornet, taunted in front of Eggman, and quickly did a Homing Attack on the cockpit area. The ship made a malfunctioning noise.

"Ooooh, you brat!" shouted Eggman. "You'll pay for this!" He finally got the Egg Hornet out of the ground. Quickly, he locked on to the Tornado, and fired a barrage of missiles towards it.

"Tails! Watch out!" Amy warned, pointing at the missiles.

Tails steered the Tornado II, doing a barrel roll, out of the missiles path. "Phew! That was close."

Eggman didn't hesitate. He fired another group of missiles at them. Tails tried to dodge them, but unfortunately, one of the missiles hit the Tornados left wing.

"Tails! Amy!" shouted Sonic. He could only watch the plane plummet to the ground.

"This doesn't look good!" said Tails. He tried all he could to pull the plane up, but it didn't work.

"Tails! Do something!" shouted Amy.

"I'm trying!"

BOOM!

The Tornado hit the ground, nose first. Luckily, Tails and Amy didn't get hurt.

"Haha! Bulls eye!" exclaimed Eggman. He clapped his hands together.

Sonic ran to the fallen Tornado, checking on his friends. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're okay." Tails assured. "Good thing I installed those extra-sturdy seat belts to soften the landing."

Sonic gave a small grin. He saw Tails as a brother to him, and was glad he was okay. "Come on guys, get out of there." He helped Tails out, then proceeded to help Amy out. But as he was doing that, Eggman fired another barrage of missiles.

"Try getting out of this one!" Eggman shouted.

"Hurry!" Amy said. Sonic saw the missiles closing in, and quickly took off Amy's seat belt. He carried her out, and picked up Tails. He rushed away from the Tornado and dropped them near the parks fountain. Right after that, the missiles hit the Tornado, causing a large explosion.

Eggman banged on his control pad. "Gah! I missed!"

Tails looked at the remains of the Tornado, then wiped his forehead. "That was an even closer one! Thanks Sonic."

Amy hugged Sonic. "Oh, Sonic, That was really heroic of you!"

Sonic sweat dropped. "Um, it's no biggie."

"Done hugging your girlfriend, Sonic?" taunted Eggman. He got the Egg Hornet ready for another charge attack.

"Alright guys, stay here!" Sonic ran towards Eggman. Eggman aimed his ship and charged towards him. Sonic jumped out of the ships way and the Egg Hornet got stuck in the ground again.

"Gah! I have to fix this doohickey!" Eggman argued to himself. He tried to get the Egg Hornet out, but failed to do so.

Sonic landed a few feet in front of the Egg Hornet."Okay, Eggman! Time to finish this!" told Sonic. He started to spin-sash in place. A group of small lights started to fly around him. After he stopped spin-dashing, he was encircled with light orbs.

"What's he doing?" asked Amy. She never saw Sonic do this move before.

"He's preparing for the Light Attack." Tails replied. "It can take out multiple enemies at once. This will surely take out Eggman's Egg Hornet!"

"Get ready, Eggman!" Sonic taunted.

Just as Sonic was about to unleash the Light Attack, something completely ironic happened. Right behind Sonic, a huge dark hole appeared. It swirled around in place, making a loud rumbling noise.

"Sonic! Watch out!" called out Tails.

Sonic looked behind him, making the Light Attack charge fade away. He stepped back. "Whoa! What is this thing?"

Eggman looked up from his ship. "What kind of force is that?"

The dark hole started to rumble louder and louder. Bright lights started to flash from it. It started to suck everything from it. The grass nearby it, leaves from the trees, they all started to get sucked in.

Sonic crouched down, bracing himself by holding on to the ground. "Man! This thing is trying to suck us in!"

"I've never seen anything like this before!" shouted Eggman. He tightened his seat belt.

Tails and Amy held onto the fountains side. They watched as the water flowed out and got sucked into the dark hole.

"Tails! What's going on?" Amy asked. She had to shout because of the loud rumble the dark hole kept making.

"I don't know!" Tails replied. He had no idea what was happening.

"Tails! Amy! Are you guys alright?" yelled Sonic.

They didn't hear him. Tails feet started to lift off the ground and pointed to the dark hole. He hung on for his dear life.

"Waaaah! I don't think I can hang on much longer!" he shouted out. He couldn't hang on any longer. His hands slipped off the fountain and flew into the dark hole.

"Aaaaaaah!" Tails shouted. A bright light erupted when Tails entered the dark hole.

"Tails!" shouted Amy. She was shocked to see his friend get sucked in. Before she realized, her feet got lifted off the ground. Amy hung on. She clenched her teeth, hoping not to get sucked in. She was loosing her grip. She knew, sooner or later, she'd get sucked in. "Sonic! Help!"

"Amy! Just hold on tighter!" Sonic shouted back. He couldn't do anything. If he tried to move, he would surely get sucked into the dark hole.

"Hoho! Luckily, my ship is stuck in the ground!" Eggman taunted. Suddenly, his Egg Hornet started to shake. It was getting pulled out of the ground. A part of the engine got sucked into the dark hole. "Huh? What's this?" Eggman gasped.

"Looks like luck just turned around for you!" grinned Sonic.

"I would say the same thing to your girlfriend!" Eggman pointed to Amy, who only had one hand holding onto the fountain.

"Amy!" yelled Sonic. "Hold on just a little bit longer!"

Amy tried to hold on, but her hand gave in. She lost her grip, and was now flying into the dark hole.

"SOOONIIIC!" she shouted before entering the dark hole. Another bright light flashed once she entered the dark hole.

"Oh no, AMY!" Sonic shouted back. He couldn't believe it. His two friends, gone. All because of a dark hole.

This is really ironic. he thought to himself. Just as I was about to finish Eggman, a dark hole decides to pop by and suck my friends in. Just great.

Before he realized, the pull got stronger. He grabbed on to the grass near him, but ended up pulling it out.

"Looks like this is it." said Eggman, in a disappointed voice. "My plan ruined, all because of a giant, dark hole!" Suddenly, the Egg Hornet got pulled out of the ground and got sucked into the dark hole, along with Eggman in it.

"GAAAAAAHHH!" Eggman screamed. Another birght flashed emitted from the dark hole.

"Whoa! Didn't expect that!" Sonic shouted. The pull of the dark hole grew stronger. Sonic started to lose grip on the ground.

_"This is it."_ he thought. "_Looks like I'm done."_

He closed his eyes and let go. He lost his grip from the ground. He tumbled into the dark hole. Right when he entered, the dark hole gave another bright flash, and soon disappeared. There was a silence in the air. The people of Empire City was shocked at what they just saw.

Sonic The Hedgehog was gone.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

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**Author Notes: The start of an epic adventure! Many surprises await in this story. Read on about this unique telling between the Mario and Sonic universes!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Thanks to everyone who has supported me ever since I started this story. I wouldn't be here without you guys. Check my profile for any updates and such on my stories. And if you like this story, read my other stories too!**

**Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

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**_I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega_**


	2. Battle With Bowser!

**_Chapter 2: Battle With Bowser!_**

**_Mushroom Kingdom..._****_  
_**

It was a clear, sunny day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Everything was at peace. Goombas were walking around, Piranha Plants were bopping up and down pipes, and Paratroopas flew freely in the skies.

Out in the Mushroom Plains, a heroic plumber was giving chase, trying to rescue a princess from the clutches from an evil Koopa King.

"MARIO! HELP ME!" yelled out the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach.

"BWAHAHA! Come on, Mario! Run faster, if you want to save your princess so bad!" taunted Bowser. He was escaping in his Koopa Clown Car, holding Peach captive along with him. He had the plumber running after him.

Mario let out a small grunt. He wasn't letting Bowser take Peach, again!

Bowser, who was determined not to let his arch-rival win again, fumbled inside his Koopa Clown Car and took out a Bob-omb. "GWAHAHA! This should slow you down a bit!" He chucked the explosive towards Mario.

Mario, seeing the Bob-omb get thrown at him, jumped out of the way. The Bob-omb missed, exploding on the ground.

"Hmph! I'm just warming up!" growled Bowser. He stopped the Koopa Clown Car in it's flight, still letting it float in the air.. "It's time to end this, Mario!" He fumbled around again in his Koopa Clown Car and took out a few Mecha-Koopas and threw them towards Mario. The plumber swiftly dodged each of them.

"Gah! I missed!"

Knowing just what to do, Mario stomped on one of the Mecha-Koopas, which made it flip upside-down. He grabbed it and flung it towards the floating Koopa Clown Car. It hit, causing the flying machine to shake a bit.

"Good job, Mario!" cheered Peach.

Bowser, who wasn't going to let Mario win, decided to change the battle up a bit. "Grah! You got a lucky shot! Now, it's time to make things more interesting!" The Koopa King let out a short roar. Suddenly, the face in the front of the Koopa Clown Car changed. It's eyes gave out a menacing stare, making it look angry.

The Koopa Clown Car started to bounce up and down on the ground, like one of those bouncy inflatable balls. It bounced towards Mario.

Mario let out a small, "Oh-oh" and started to run. He knew he didn't want to get squished. Especially since the Clown Car had a sharp rotar at the bottom.

"Mario! Run!" shouted Peach.

"It's time to make some plumber pancakes!" Bowser growled.

Mario kept running. He looked around him, trying to find something in the plains to help him.

"Aha!" exclaimed Mario. In the distance, he saw a Fire Flower propped up on a floating block. He headed towards it.

Bowser, confused to why Mario changed direction, checked to see where he was headed. "A Fire Flower?" Bowser laughed. "What are you gonna do with that? Just give up Mario, you know I'm gonna win!"

The Clown Car bounced faster. Mario got into a sprint. He was a few feet away from the Fire Flower.

Bowser had a trick up his sleeve. He stopped the Koopa Clown Car from bouncing and let out another short roar. All of a sudden, Two cannons popped out at the sides of the Koopa Clown Car. He pointed to Mario. "Go! Bullet Bills!"

BOOM!

Two Bullet Bills shot out from the cannons.

"Mario! Look out!" Peach warned. Mario looked behind him. The Bullet Bills were closing in on him. Quickly, he jumped high into the air. The Bullet Bills collided into each other, giving out an explosion.

Bowser slammed on his Koopa Clown Car. "Gah! That plumber always has to make me mad!"

Mario landed on top of the floating block. He picked up the Fire Flower and held it high into the air. His clothes started to flash. His blue ovaralls changed into a dark red colour, while his red sweater and trademark hat changed into a bright white.

He was now Fire Mario!

Bowser let out a small smirk. "You think that _teeny weeny _fireballs can stop me?" He laughed. "I've got something that its even better than that! And a lot more cooler!" The Koopa King let out another short roar. The face on the Clown Car started to change again. It's mouth opened, revealing a laser gun. Bowser pointed to Mario. "Go! Koopa Laser!"

The laser gun started to charge up. It gave out a loud whirring sound.

VOOOOOM!

The laser gun fired, giving out a powerful beam. Mario jumped off the floating block. The beam hit the block, disintegrating it in the process. The beam powered down. All it left was the pieces of the block, which fell to the ground.

"BWAHA! Now you gotta admit, that was pretty awesome!"

Mario landed in front of the Koopa Clown Car.

"Bowser! You must stop this, right now!" he said.

Bowser crossed his arms. "What are you going to do about it? I have your princess!"

Before he could realize it, Mario jumped onto his Koopa Clown Car.

"Hey! Get off!" demanded Bowser.

Mario took Peach out and jumped back onto the ground, putting the princess down as well.

Bowser went wide-eyed in shock. "Wha...How...You...But...GAAAAAHH!" He gave out a big tantrum. "THAT'S NOT FAIR! I HAD THE UPPER HAND! HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" The Koopa King clenched his hands on the sides of the Clown Car, furious. "THAT'S IT, MARIO! I'm GONNA ANNIHILATE YOU!" The Clown Car's laser gun started to charge again. "YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET BEATING ME FOR THE PAST YEARS!"

Mario, who was tired of Bowser's excessive arguing, calmly walked up to the Koopa Clown Car.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Mario pointed his hand towards the rotor.

"ARE YOU GONNA DO WHAT I THINK YOU'RE GONNA DO?"

Surely enough, Mario fired a fireball into the Clown Cars rotor. It hit, and the rotor started to spew out smoke. The Clown Car started to fly around in different directions.

"WHOOOA! GGRRRAAA!" screamed Bowser. "I CAN'T CONTROL THIS THING!" Mario and Peach watched as the Koopa Clown Car flew high towards the sky, out of sight.

Peach walked up to Mario. "Oh my. Do you think he'll be okay?"

Mario nodded. "He always does, doesn't he?"

Peach smiled. "Thank you again, Mario." She gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Mario let out a sigh. Suddenly, his Fire Flower power-up faded away, turning his clothes back to normal.

"We should get back to the castle now, shouldn't we?" said Mario.

"Of course." replied Peach. "Let's go."

* * *

**_Toad Town, Princess Peach's Castle..._**

"Hey Mario! You're back!" shouted Luigi. "And you've rescued the Princess too!"

Mario and Peach were back at the castle in Toad Town. Luigi was waiting on the castle moat. They walked up to him.

"Are you okay, Princess?" asked Luigi.

"Yes, Luigi." replied Peach. "Thank you for asking."

Luigi looked to Mario. "So! How was the fight with Bowser? Was it exciting? Was there a lot of punching?" He pulled a few punches in front of him.

Mario put his hands on his head and rolled his eyes. "Well, you could say it was different than usual. There was lots of fire, cannons and lasers!"

Luigi crossed his arms. "Aww, I should've came with you!" He shook his head, disappointed.

"Well, you could have!" Mario pointed out. "But you decided to run around the castle screaming, 'The Princess has been taken! The Princess has been taken!"

Luigi sweat dropped. "Hey! You know me! I get scared easily!"

"Okay you guys, please, calm down." said Peach. "Why don't I go bake a cake for you two?"

Mario and Luigi nodded. "Sounds good!"

Peach smiled. "I'll get right onto it." She headed into the castle. The Mario Bros. could hear Toadsworth on the other side of the door, talking how glad he was to see the princess okay.

"Looks like we're bring another cake home!" exclaimed Luigi. "Peach's are the best!"

Mario agreed. "We should get into the castle and maybe help out a bit."

The Mario Bros. walked to the door. Suddenly, they heard one of the Toad guards shout. "Whoa! What's that in the sky?"

"I don't know. Looks like a comet!" replied another Toad guard. "And why is it blue?"]

The Mario Bros. heard their conversation. They looked at each other, then ran to the town square of Toad Town. They looked up. Sure enough, there was a blue comet, heading right towards Toad Town

"Oh! This...looks...bad!" Luigi said. He was a bit nervous. A part of him told him to run, while the other part told him to watch.

The blue comet got closer. It didn't really look big. But it was coming down, fast. Closer and closer it got. Everyone of Toad Town was watching, waiting to see where it might land.

"That comet is falling down really fast!" commented another one of the Toad guards.

In split second, the blue comet finally landed, right into the lake beside Toad Town. It made a big splash. Everyone ran to the lake, seeing what the comet was. The Mario Bros. joined the crowd.

"What is it?" a Toad asked.

"I don't know, it's too far for me to see." said the Toad next to him.

"Hey! Look! The comet has arms!" shouted Luigi, joining in.

"It looks like a person." another Toad noted. "Wait no, it's an animal! And it looks like it's drowning!"

What the blue comet left was a blue creature, who was flailing his arms in the water.

"Help! I'm drowning!" it shouted.

Mario, who heard it's call, jumped into the lake. He swam towards the creature.

"Hey, look! It's Mario!" a Toad yelled.

"Go Mario!" exclaimed Luigi.

Mario got to the blue creature and grabbed onto him. "Okay! Stop waving your arms!" He argued. He swam back to shore, with the blue creature with him. They both walked through the crowd of Toads and back to the castle, with Mario helping him along the way.

It was wearing red shoes, with buckles on them. It was also wearing white gloves. The creature had what looked like quills. It had two quills on the back and also a tail. It also had six quills on it's head. It's ears were a triangle shape.

They got back to the front of Princess Peach's castle. One of the Toad guards got a towel for the creature. Everyone checked to see what it was. Mario took off his cap, which got wet (of course_)_, and gave it to Luigi. He walked to the animal.

"Umm, what's your name?" Mario asked.

"I'm..." the creature shivered a bit from the cold. "I'm...Sonic...Sonic the Hedgehog.

...

...

_To be continued..._

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_Sonic the Hedgehog? In Mario's world? How? Things are getting a bit interesting. Stay tuned for more!_

_**A**_**uthor**_** N**_**otes**: **This is the second chapter for the week! Took me a lot of thinking to finish! Next two chapters will be up next week. Tell me what you think!**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**_  
_


	3. Sonic the Hedgehog in Mario World!

**_Chapter 3: Sonic the Hedgehog in Mario World!_**

**_Princess Peach's Castle, Foyer Area..._**

"So your saying you're from another world?" asked Luigi.

Mario, Luigi and Sonic were near the castle foyers stairway. Mario saved Sonic from drowning after crashing into the lake near the castle. Sonic had a towel around him, and was drying off.

"Yeah. You could say that." Sonic answered. His nose sniffled a bit from the water.

Mario, who was standing instead of sitting, was amazed by Sonic's story of how he got to into their world. "A dark hole sucked you and your friends in?"

"That must've been scary." Luigi commented. He was sitting beside Sonic on the stairway.

"Yeah. It also sucked in the doctor who I was fighting." Sonic continued drying off his quills.

"Well, what do you think happened to your friends?" Mario asked. "And that evil doctor?"

Sonic layed the towel at his side. "I don't know. I'm guessing the dark hole teleported each of us to different locations."

Luigi thought for a bit. "That must mean your friends landed somewhere else in our world." He stood up. "They could be anywhere!"

"I know." Sonic said. He looked down on the floor. "I'm just hoping they're okay." Mario noticed the worried tone in Sonic's voice.

"Hey, don't worry. If it makes you feel better, we'll help you find your friends!"

Luigi joined his brother. "Yeah! We're the Mario Bros! We'll help you no matter what!"

Sonic didn't look up. He closed his eyes for a sec, then quickly opened them. "Thanks, but you guys already helped enough." He stood from the stairway. "I think I need to do this alone, for now." He quickly zipped past the two plumbers and headed out the castle doorways. The Mario Bros looked at each other in awe. They headed for the door and looked out. Sonic was no where in sight.

"Whoa! He ran pretty fast for a hedgehog!" Luigi pointed out. He closed his part of the door. Mario still kept looking out for him.

"Are you sure he'll be okay? He did look like he was bothered by something."

"I'm guessing he's still worried about his friends." Luigi sat back down on the stair way. Mario walked up to him. "I'd be worried about my friends too if I was suddenly teleported to another world by a death-defying hole!"

Peach entered the foyer from the top door on the stairway. "What happened? I heard the door slam open."

"It was Sonic." Mario replied. "He left to find his friends."

"Oh." Peach started down the stairway. "Poor thing. I hope he'll be okay. Such a dramatic event doesn't happen to everyone."

"I bet he'll come back soon." Luigi assumed. "He is pretty fast on his feet, by the way."

"Well, we should eat lunch now. The food is already prepared in the dining room."

The Mario Bros nodded. They followed Peach into another doorway, leading into the castles dining room.

* * *

**_Bowser's_****_ Volcano, Pathway to Bowser Castle..._**

"_GAH! STUPID, STUPID MARIO! WHY DOES HE ALWAYS RUIN MY PLANS! THAT PLUMBER ALWAYS MAKE ME MAD!_"

Bowser was heading back to his castle. He was already on the pathway to the door. His castle was located right in the middle of a huge volcano. The path way was made up of clusters of boulders that melted together, leading to Bowser's front door. The Koopa King was in his Koopa Clown Car. It was badly beaten in the fight against Mario. It could barely float without crashing on the ground a few times.

Bowser looked at his Clown Car. "Hmph! Because of Mario, I need to fix my Koopa Clown Car, again!" He banged his fist on it in frustration. Suddenly, the Koopa Clown Car crashed back down again.

"RRAAAAAWWWR!" Bowser roared in frustration. He tried to start the Clown Car up again, but it didn't make a sound. He struggled to crawl out of it, being so big. He looked at the fallen machine and kicked it. Bad idea. The Koopa King cried in pain, holding onto his injured foot.

"Man! This stinks." He started limping to his castle door, leaving the Clown Car behind. "I need to build something. Something that would totally destory Mario." He was now in front of his castle door. He was about to open it, when he looked to his left. "What the? What is that?"

A few feet away from him, was a man. He layed their on his stomach. Bowser walked up to him, for a closer inspection. The man had a crimson red jacket that had four yellow buttons, two on each side. He was wearing white gloves and black trousers. Bowser looked closer. The man was also wearing some goggles on his head a blue sunglasses.

_Wow, this guy needs to work out more. He practically looks like an egg._ Bowser thought to himself. He gave out a small chuckle. _Man, I'm so funny! Well, I better wake this guy up._

"Umm, hello? Are you alive or, something." Bowser spoke. The man was silent for a moment. Then he gave out a small groan. "Looks like he's still awake. I better get the Goombas out here and carry him inside." He opened his castle door and shouted. "Minions! I have a fallen man out here! Get him inside!"

* * *

**_Mushroom Plains..._**

_I've got to find Tails and Amy_. Sonic thought to himself. _They could be anywhere by now._

Sonic was running in the outskirts of Toad Town, which was the Mushroom Plains. He looked around him while he was running. He saw pipes sticking out of the ground, floating blocks with question marks on them, even walking mushrooms! He couldn't believe it.

"This world sure has a lot of weird things laying around." Sonic said. "Then again, theres a lot of weird stuff in my world too. Most of it coming from Eggman." Sonic remembered all the badniks Eggman made to try and stop him. He remembered the machines Eggman made that he used to fight Sonic.

_Eggman_. _I wonder what happened to him too._

He kept on running, hoping to see a glimpse of a two tailed fox or a certain pink hedgehog walking in the plains.

_No luck._ He thought to himself. _I've just got to keep looking._

"Help!" someone shouted.

Sonic stopped running. He looked around him. There, off in the distance, was a green Koopa Troopa who was near a pipe.

"Help! Someone! Anybody!"

Sonic ran to the Koopa Troopa. "What's the matter kid?"

The worried Koopa Troopa pointed to the pipe. "My friend was jumping up and down on the side of the pipe. I told him to stop, but he wouldn't listen to me. He suddenly lost his footing and fell into the pipe!"

Sonic listened to the Koopa Troopas story. "Don't worry! I'll go get him." He was about to jump into the pipe when the Koopa Troop stopped him.

"Wait! You have to be careful! The underground is pretty dangerous! There's lots of pits, spikes, Thwomps and Buzzy Beetles down there!"

Sonic gave him a thumbs up. "Hehe! I bet those things are nothing compared to what I've seen."

Sonic jumped into the pipe and dived down into the darkness. He landed on the solid rock ground. He looked around him. All he could see was darkness.

"What I would do for a light." Sonic said. "It's so dim down here." He started to walk, calling out for the Koopa Troopas friend.

"Hello! Anyone here?"

No answer.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." Sonic commented. He continued walking, be careful where he was going.

"_Whoa!_"

Sonic tripped onto the ground. He rubbed his head, sitting back up. "What did I trip on?" He looked behind him. He could see a shape of a block behind him. He picked it up, and stood back up. "Hmm, I tripped over a block. That's pretty clumsy for me." He chuckled a bit. He inspected the block closer. He saw it had eyes on it. "Whoa!" He dropped it in surprise.

The block hit the ground, and it flashed a bit. Sonic was confused. He picked the block up again. This time, he shook it. The block suddenly lit up in a bright light.

"Wow! This thing can glow!"

Sonic looked at the block, seeing it's eyes again. "Boy, am I glad I tripped over you." He smiled. Finally he had a light to see in the cave. "Now it's time to find that little turtles friend."

He continued his walk through the cave, carrying the Glow Block at his side. He called out for the Koopas friend. He still didn't get any response.

"This cave is darker than the Labyrinth Zone." Sonic commented. He didn't notice where he was walking, and tripped over something again.

"Oof!" Sonic fell to the ground, dropping the Glow Block. It landed in front of him. He stood back up and picked it up. "Now what did I trip on?" He looked behind, this time seeing a dark-blue shell lying down. He looked closer. A turtle-like creature popped out of it. It had red eyes and walked on all fours. Sonic jerked back, surprised to see someone living in the shell. The turtle creature looked at him, then walked away.

"Man, that actually scared me!" Sonic said, holding onto his chest. "Must be one of those Buzzy Beetles that Koopa was talking about."

Sonic continued walking deeper in the underground. After a few minutes, he heard a shout.

"Someone! Help me, I can't get up!"

Sonic raced to the voice, still carrying the Glow Block. In the light, he could see a red Koopa Troopa wobbling on his shell. Sonic walked to him and help him on his feet.

"Thank you!" said the Red Koopa Troopa. He was dusting off his shell.

"I'm guessing you're the one that the green turtle up there was talking about." Sonic said, pointing his thumb behind him.

"Yeah. I was pretty stupid, trying to dance on the pipe." replied the Red Koopa.

"Well, at least you're okay. Come on, we should get out of here."

They were about to leave, when they heard a loud, deep grunting noise behind them.

"What was that?" asked the Red Koopa.

Sonic held the Glow Block in front of them. There wasn't anything behind them. Then they looked up. There, floating under the cave walls, was a rectangular, spiky looking stone creature. It's eyes were closed.

"Uh oh, we better get out of here, quick!" said the Red Koopa. He quickly started to walk to the pipe exits direction.

"Oh, come on! This thing doesn't look like it's any harm." Sonic pointed out. He kept looking at the stone creature.

The Red Koopa tugged on Sonic's fur. "Come on! Let's go! You don't know what that thing can do!"

Suddenly, the stone creature opened it's eyes and mouth. The stone creature swiftly dove into the ground. It made a loud thud. The cave rumbled loudly.

"Whoa! Now I know what this thing can do!" yelled Sonic. He kept his balance from the shaking cave.

"Quick! We have to get out of here!" shouted the Red Koopa.

In no time, Sonic picked up the Red Koopa and sped out of the cave. He saw the pipe he entered and jumped out, glad to see the sky again. He landed back in Mushroom Plains, seeing the Green Koopa Troopa waiting outside the pipe.

"Hey! You're back!" exclaimed the Green Koopa. "And you saved my friend!" Sonic let the Red Koopa down. "How was it down there? I heard a big noise down there!"

"Oh, it was nothing." replied the Red Koopa. "It was just a Thwomp. Nothing too serious." The Red Koopa looked up to Sonic. "Thank you again. Say, what's your name?"

Sonic gave them a thumbs up. "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Cool name! Anyways. We need to get home now. Bye!" Sonic watched as the Green and Red Koopa started to run out into the plains. He gave a small smile.

"They remind me of my animal friends back at South Island." Sonic commented. He looked at his hand, realizing he was still holding the Glow Block. "You've been a real help to me, little guy." The Glow Blocks eyes looked happy. Sonic decided to put the Glow Block in his pocket. He did a few quick stretches.

_I better get back to finding Tails and Amy now._ He thought to himself.

Sonic started to run. But unbeknownst to him, there was another Koopa who was watching him. But it wasn't no normal Koopa. This one was related to an infamous Koopa King.

"Can't wait to tell my papa about this!"

..

..

_To be continued..._

* * *

_Looks like Sonic is on a search to find his friends. Will he succeed? Who is that mysterious man at Bowser's Castle? And who could that other Koopa be? Stay tuned!_

**_A_uthor _N__otes: Took me a whole lot of thinking for this chapter. There is some character development in this one. Next chapter will be up later this week!_**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	4. When Evil Minds Collide!

**_Chapter 4: When Evil Minds Collide!_**

**_Princess Peach's Castle, Dining Room..._**

"Boy! That lunch was _really_ good!" exclaimed Luigi. He was leaning back on his chair, rubbing his stomach. They had finshed their bowls of Mushroom Soup, with freshly squeezed peach juice. The Mario Bros and Peach were eating in the dining room, after Sonic left in search for his friends.

"This was your best Mushroom soup, Peach!" complimented Mario. He was sitting opposite to where Peach was.

Peach smiled. "Thank you, Mario."

"Man! Too bad Sonic didn't decide to stay and chow down for awhile." Luigi said. He gave his empty bowl to one of the Toad waiters.

"Speaking of Sonic. I wonder where he's at to right now." said Mario. "It's been a whole hour."

"Don't worry, Mario. I'm sure he's still okay." Peach assured.

Luigi got out of his chair. "Well, I'll be heading to the bathroom now." He headed for the dining room exit, when suddenly the doors flung open, smashing his face right into it. He collapsed to the floor.

"Princess! Princess! We've got a message for you!" It was one of the Purple Mail Toads. He ran to the table where Mario and Peach were, hopping over Luigi's fallen body.

"What is it?" asked Peach.

The Mail Toad took a moment to catch his breath. "It's a message from Yoshi's Island. They say they've spotted a yellow comet heading towards their island, right this minute!"

Mario was surprised. "A _yellow_ comet?" He remembered how Sonic came crashing down into the lake.

_Sonic came crashing down into the lake as a blue comet._ Mario thought. _That must mean..._

"Princess, I think I might know what that yellow comet is about." Mario stood out of his chair. "We need to get to Yoshi Island!"

Peach nodded. "Okay Mario. I'll give you access to the Chop Chop Helicopter." She motioned the Toad guards to lead the Mario Bros to the castles helipad. Mario followed them, waking up Luigi on the way.

"Luigi! Wake up!" shouted Mario.

Luigi opened his eyes. "W-w-w-what happened? Did I black out?" He felt his head. "Ow! Theres a bump on my head!"

Mario helped his brother up. "We have no time for that, Luigi. We're heading to Yoshi Island!" Before Luigi could ask another question, his brother grabbed onto his arm and pulled him out the dining room.

"Be careful, Mario!" Peach shouted to them, before the door closed behind them.

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Throne Room..._**

"Oooohhhh. My head..."

Dr. Eggman awoke, with a huge headache. He opened his eyes. At first it was blurry, but after awhile his vision cleared. He was looking up at a grey brick ceiling.

_Where in the world am I?_ thought the doctor. He was laying on a green beach chair._ A beach chair? Why am I sitting in a beach chair?_ The doctor sat up, looking around him. He was sitting in the middle of a big room. The walls were made up of dark red bricks. In front of him, was a big, steel castle-looking door. Behind him, were a few small stairs that led to a king-sized throne. Two large windows were at the sides of the throne. Outside, all he could see was a red sky. Above the throne was a large curtain, with a red face of something he couldn't make out of. It looked like a turtle.

Eggman struggled to stand up. "Ohh! My back! I should work out more!" He finally got up to his feet and stretched his arms out. "This must be a castle of some sort." He walked around the room for a bit, trying to remember what happened.

"Wasn't I in a fight with Sonic?" The doctor stopped for a moment, putting his hand on his chin. "Yes, I remember now. We were fighting in Empire city, when this giant, dark hole sucked us in. It must have teleported us somewhere else. But where?"

He looked at the window, deciding to take a glimpse outside. The doctor was surprised. All he could see was lava around the castle he was in. There was a long, rocky pathway that led to the castles door. The doctor went back in, sweating from the heat.

"WHERE AM I!" Eggman shouted. He stomped his foot in frustration. Suddenly, he heard a creak from the door.

"Oh oh, someone's coming! I better hide."

Eggman looked around for a minute. He looked at the throne. He rushed behind it, keeping an eye on the door. Someone walked in. It was a huge turtle, with spikes on the shells. He had spiky wristbands on his arms. The turtle had red hair that swayed in every movement.

_What is that thing?_ Eggman thought.

The turtle looked at the empty beach chair. He started to talk. "Hehehe. Looks like our visitor is hiding somewhere." He looked at the throne. "Hey! I'm not in the mood for hide and seek, so you might as well come out now!"

Eggman was surprised that the turtle knew where he was hiding. He walked out from behind the throne.

The turtle crossed his arms. "Not liking the hospitality here?" He made a small chuckle. "Sorry, but all the other rooms were filled, so I had to put you in here."

Eggman was shocked to see the turtle talk. "Where am I"

The turtle slowly walked up the throne stairs. "You're in my castle. I can tell you that!"

"I kind of figured that out, your Majesty." Eggman spoke. He thought since it was the turtles castle, he thought he was some type of royalty.

The turtle laughed. "Whoa! Slow down there. No need to call me majesty!" He held his hand out. "Just call me Bowser."

Eggman hesitated for a moment. Then he shook his hand. "I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik."

"Can I call you Eggman instead?" Bowser asked.

"Certainly..." They stopped the handshake. "Where did you find me?" Eggman asked.

"You were laying outside my castle." Bowser answered. "You looked pretty beaten, so I decided to bring you in." He settled down into his throne. "Now comes a very interesting question. "How did you get here?"

Eggman explained what had happened to him from the past few hours. Bowser was stunned by his story. "So your saying your from another world?"

Eggman was surprised. "Wait, I'm not on Earth anymore?"

"Well, yeah. Didn't you know that?" Bowser answered. He was confused the scientist didn't know." You're in the Mushroom World." He laid back in his throne, waiting for the doctors reaction.

"Wait, the Mushroom world?" The doctor was astounded. "I'm in a different dimension?"

"You bet!" Bowser exclaimed. "And sooner or later, I'm going to rule this world!"

Eggman was confused"Don't you already rule this world, since you have a castle and all?"

Bowser stood from his chair, making a loud thud. "Tsk! I would be! But this guy called _Mario_ always ruins my plan to take over the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Mario? Who is this Mario?"

Bowser walked down the throne steps. "For many years, I've been trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom with my army. Right now, the Mushroom Kingdom is ruled by a princess. If I took over her castle, then I would declare my self as king, making everyone bow down to me! But my plan always gets ruined by that plumber, Mario!" The Koopa King stomped on the ground, making the whole castle shake. "Do you know how it feels like, getting beaten by your arch-rival, everytime?" He turned around to Eggman. He was crossing his arms.

"Indeed I do." Eggman answered. He walked down to the Koopa King. "You remember that Sonic character I was talking about in my story?" Bowser nodded. "Well, I've been planning world domination on Earth for many years, and my plans have always been ruined by that hedgehog!"

"Guess we have something in common then." Bowser sighed. "One day, I'm going to get that plumber good!"

Suddenly, the throne door opened. In came a smaller turtle. He looked exactly like Bowser, only he was wearing a bib with fangs drawn on it, and his hair was in a top-ponytail. "Papa! Papa! You can't believe what I saw in the plains today!"

Eggman was surprised. He looked at Bowser. "You're a father?"

"Don't talk about it." Bowser walked to his son. "What do you have to report to me, Junior?"

Bowser Jr. started. "Well, I was watching these two Koopa Troopas playing in Mushroom Plains, when one of them fell into a pipe. The other Koopa was calling for help, when this blue creature rushed to him."

Eggman, who was also listening, jolted when he heard 'blue creature'. "Wait! Did you just say, blue creature?"

Junior nodded to him. "Yeah! He had these cool-looking shoes and white gloves. He could run really fast too!"

Eggman couldn't believe it. _Could that be...Sonic?_

"Did you know where that blue creature headed off to?" Eggman asked.

Junior nodded again. "I think he headed off to Yoshi Island after saving that Koopa."

"Yoshi Island, you say?" Eggman looked at Bowser. "I think that could be Sonic the Hedgehog."

"You mean that guy you were fighting at Empire City? You're arch-rival?" Bowser asked, crossing his arms. He knew what Eggman was leading up to.

"Yes. I'm guessing that he got teleported into this world too!" Eggman had an idea. "You must understand, I must capture that hedgehog and get him back for all the trouble he's caused me! If you don't mind, do you have any transportation of some sort?"

Bowser nodded. "I have a few airships in my workshop." Bowser paused for a moment. "If I gave you one of my airships, then what would you do for me?

"What are you guys talking about?" Junior asked, curious about what his father and an old geezer were chatting about.

"Well, I know you're desperately trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. I was wondering if I could help create a machine for you to use for your troubles!"

Bowser thought for a moment, thinking about Eggman's offer.

"I must remind you, I'm a super-evil genius, with an IQ of 300! I can build the most dangerous machines you could think of!"

There was a long silence in the room. "Sure, why not?" Bowser answered. "I mean, come on. Villains have got to watch out for each other, am I right? I scratch your back, you scratch mine?"

"Hohoho! Now you're talking!" Eggman held his hand out. "So, do we have a deal?"

Bowser shook his hand. "Alright then! I lend you my airship, while you build me a totally awesome machine! From now on, we're a team!"

"An evil team!" Eggman added.

Bowser looked at his son. "Junior, please show Eggman to the airship room. I need you to direct him to Yoshi Island. Make sure you use Airship Model _1981_. You're going on a mission."

Junior was confused for a moment, then hopped in joy. "You mean the airship with the big cannon? And the laser gun?" Bowser nodded. "Alright, papa!" He rushed out of the throne room, heading to the airship room.

Bowser stared at Eggman. "Just make sure nothing happens to Junior." He instructed. "He'll help you on you're mission to capture that Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Might I say, thank you for your assistance." Eggman walked out of the throne room. Bowser walked back to his throne.

"That doctor better know what he is doing!"

* * *

**_Mushroom Kingdom, Peach Beach..._**

Sonic was running along the coast of Peach Beach. There were palm trees everywhere and and a large, purple rock that stood out on the beach. The beach resided near a small town, filled with Piantas and Nokis. It served as a vacation place for tourists and is also a place where kart racing is held. The hedgehog stopped for a moment, looking out into the ocean.

_I've searched for almost an hour. How am I going to find Tails and Amy now?_ Sonic felt like giving up. _No, I can't give up! They have to be around here somewhere. I just got to keep looking._

He kept looking out into the ocean. He spotted an island off the horizon. He could see distant mountains and forests on it.

_Heh, that island reminds me of Angel Island._ thought Sonic. Then he remembered. His home world.

"Gee, after all this action, I forgot how we're gonna get home!" Sonic said. He sat down in the warm sand, resting for a while. He gazed into the sky, wondering what his friends were doing right now. He saw a helicoptor heading towards the island, but nothing too much out of the ordinary came by.

"Whoa, what is that?" Sonic saw something in the sky. It looked like a comet. It was yellow.

Sonic stood up. "A yellow comet? That's pretty strange." He saw where the comet was heading. "It looks like it's going to that island!" He watched as the comet headed closer to the island. Sonic had some sort of feeling about that comet.

He looked at the water. Knowing what he had to do, he stood up, taking a few steps back._ Alright. It's time to do this._ Instantly, he went into a quick run. He ran on top of the water, not stopping. He felt like he was floating. The water splashed on his shoes, making a small wave behind him. He zipped past the helicoptor. He was heading towards the island.

_I have a good feeling about that comet!

* * *

Bowser and Eggman have teamed up! And what does that comet have to do with anything? Looks like everyone is rushing to Yoshi Island! What sort of action will happen? Stay tuned!_

**_Author Notes: Phew! Got this chapter out of the way. I tried adding some more character development to this. This chapter was more of a "preparation" for the next chapter. Hopefully, people will like it. Will be posting the next two chapters next week! Enjoy!_**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	5. The Fox and the Dinosaur!

**_Chapter 5: The Fox and the Dinosaur!  
_**

**_Somewhere...  
_**

"Mario? Are we there yet?" yawned Luigi. He was sitting next to Mario in the passenger seat of the Chop Chop Helicoptor. The Chop Chop helicopter was painted a bright red. It was very roomy, being able to fit up to eight passengers. It has two rotors that helped it to fly, one on the back and the other on the front. The Mario Bros. were heading to Yoshi Island. Right now, they were just above the oceans near the island.

"Almost there, Luigi!" Mario assured. He was piloting the helicopter. Back at Peach's Castle, Luigi begged Mario if he could fly the helicopter, but Mario reminded him of the time he drove his kart into a pipe that had a hungry Piranha Plant waiting for him.

"So bro. Why are we heading to Yoshi Island again?" Luigi asked.

"Well, back at the castle, the Mail Toad had a message from the Yoshi Island's leader." Mario started to explain. "It said that there's been a comet spotted heading towards the island itself."

"_Okay_. And what does that have to do with anything?" Luigi asked, trying to understand the situation.

"Do you remember how Sonic came to our world? He came in a comet-like form and landed in Toad Town's lake!" Mario slowed down the helicopter as they were getting closer to the island.

Luigi thought for a moment, looking at the window. He saw something on the waters, making a wave behind itself, but didn't bother to figure what it was.

"So I'm guessing that other comet could be one of Sonic's friends?" Luigi replied.

Mario nodded. "Exactly. That's why we must go to where the comet lands, and if it is one of Sonic's friends, then we'll bring them back to the castle."

The Chop Chop Helicopter finally arrived at Yoshi island. They saw a big village near the islands coast. Mario landed the helicopter on the beach. The rotors began to slow down. The Mario Bros unbuckled their seat belts and got out of the helicopter.

Luigi stretched his arms out, giving out a large yawn. "It's-a been awhile since we've been here, isn't it bro?"

Mario was already heading towards the village. Luigi saw him and had to catch up to him. The village was actually pretty modern-looking for Yoshi Island. The houses were made up of strong, stone bricks. The roofs were made up of thick, wooden sticks that were tied together. The houses were painted bright colours to match to mood of the Yoshi civilization. The Yoshis were walking around everywhere, having conversations, playing games with each other. It was a peaceful place.

The Mario Bros walked around the village. "Where are we supposed to go now?" asked Luigi, walking right behind his brother. Mario stopped, pointing in front of him. There, was a plump-looking green Yoshi, sitting on a straw chair right outside a big looking house, twice the size of the other houses. He had a bowl of apples beside him that was on a small, wooden table. He had a feather sticking on top of his head. Beside the plump Yoshi, was a brown Yoshi, much skinner than he was, who was talking to him. The two Yoshis noticed the Mario Bros, and motioned them to come forward.

"Aaah! Mario. It has been awhile since our last encounter" said the plump Yoshi. He shook Mario's hand, not bothering trying to stand up.

"Umm, Mario, who is this guy?" Luigi whispered to his bro.

"I am the leader of the Yoshi clan!" exclaimed the plump Yoshi. Luigi, surprised that he heard him, sweat dropped.

"Oh! N-nice to meet y-you!" stuttered Luigi. He shook the Village leaders hand, trying to stay calm.

The Village leader took a apple from the bowl beside him and gobbled it in one bite. "I am thinking your here because of the message I've sent?"

Mario nodded. "Yes, Village leader. You must tell us where the comet has landed! It's very important!"

"And why is that?" asked the Village leader. He took another apple and ate it in one bite.

"Well, you see, it's kind of a long story." replied Luigi. "This person came from another world, and we think that comet might be connected to him in some way." He put a hand behind his head, waiting for the Village leaders response. There was a short pause, followed by the Yoshi leaders laugh.

"I must say! That's one of the most bizarre explanations I've ever heard!" the Village leader slowly calmed down. Even the Brown Yoshi beside him crack a small chuckle.

"Wow! This guy's laugh is louder than one of Bowser's roars." Luigi commented to Mario. His brother just shrugged.

The Village leader apologized for his behavior, then quickly became serious. "Anyway, the comet landed in the forest beside the mountains." He pointed behind him him. Sure enough, far in the distance, there was an overgrown forest, right in front of the many mountains on Yoshi Island.

"Thank you, Yoshi leader." Mario thanked. He turned to his brother, "So, you ready for another adventure?" Luigi hesitated for a moment.

"I-I don't know bro. I'm kind of nervous about this." He took a step back. "What if it isn't one of Sonic's friends? What if it was one of those Shroob things again? Maybe an evil Cosmic Spirit?" He shuddered at the thought.

Mario was a bit surprised. "Oh, come on bro! We're the Mario brothers! We can do anything if we just stick together!"

Luigi still shook his head. "Sorry bro, but somehow, I'm feeling kind of _scared_ about this. Maybe I'll just sit this one out and stay here."

Mario sighed. "Well, if that's what you want, then okay. I guess I'll go alone."

The Village leader joined in. "_Nonsense_! You don't have to go alone! What if my right-hand man comes with you on your mission!" He turned to the brown Yoshi beside him. At first, the brown Yoshi went wide-eyed and shook his head, not wanting to go out in the forest. But after a small argument between the Village leader, he was commanded to go. The brown Yoshi sighed, then mumbled to himself about why it's unfair having to take orders from the leader.

"Then it's settled. You'll be going into the forest and look for what remains of that comet." the Village leader said. Mario and Brown Yoshi headed out of the village, while the Village leader and Luigi stayed behind, wishing them luck.

The Village leader looked into his empty bowl beside him, then to Luigi. "You want to go to the Yoshi Mart for me and get me some more apples?"

Luigi groaned. "_Sure_..." He took the bowl and headed to the village square.

* * *

**_Somewhere..._**

"_Oowww!_ My head hurts!" moaned out a familiar fox. He sat up, putting his hand on his forehead. He was laying down on lush grass. He looked around him. All he could see where trees and bushes around him.

"Where am I?" said the tired fox. He tried to stand up, but fell back from the pain of his leg. "Yeow! I must've sprained my leg!"

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember what happened.

_Wasn't I with Sonic and Amy?_ thought the fox. _We were fighting Eggman, then this large, dark hole appeared and sucked us in._ He opened his eye again. "That dark hole must've teleported us somewhere else." He looked around, hoping to see if his friends were around.

"Sonic!" He shouted. No response. "Well, this is great. My ankle is sprained and I'm lost in the forest." The fox laid back, thinking how he was going to get out of the big forest.

_Wait, what was that?_

He sat back up, looking around him. He had heard a rustle in the bushes, but wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

"Umm, is anyone there?" he shouted.

Nothing happened.

He was about to lay down again, when he heard another rustling noise.

_Okay, I'm definitely not imagining things!_

He looked around. Suddenly, one of the bushes in front of him started to rustle. Afraid of what he might see, the fox closed his eyes. Behind the bush, out came a green dinosaur, carrying a watermelon with him. He saw the fox in front of him. Confused, he walked up and started sniffing him. The fox slowly opened his eyes, surprised to see the dinosaur sniffing him. It stopped sniffing and looked at him curiously.

"Umm, hi." the fox said, nervously.

"Yoshi!" exclaimed the green dinosaur.

"I'm guessing your name is Yoshi?"

The dinosaur nodded. He looked at his watermelon and decided to give it to the fox. The fox took it. "Uh, thanks." The Yoshi looked at him. Seeing that he looked ihurt, he turned around, pointing at his back.

_Does he want me to ride on him?_ thought the fox.

The Yoshi looked back at him. "Don't be shy." The fox was surprised.

_Did he just talk? Oh great, now I think I'm going crazy!_

The fox hesitated for a moment. "Are you sure?" The Yoshi nodded back in assurance. The fox climbed onto his back, making sure he didn't step on his injured leg. He gripped onto the Yoshi's shell, still holding onto the watermelon. The Yoshi started walking.

"So? What's your name?" asked the Yoshi.

The fox was silent. Then spoke. "My name's Miles Prower, but my friends call me Tails."

They Yoshi thought for a moment, passing by a stump along the way. "That's a pretty cool name!" He looked back at Tails. "Where are your friends? I'll take you back to them."

"I don't know where they are..."

The Yoshi stopped. "You're saying you don't know where your friends are?" He looked carefully at the fox. "Say, I've never seen someone with two tails before."

Tails realized he was looking at his tails. "Yeah. That's pretty much why I'm called Tails."

The Yoshi started walking again. "Well, where do you think your friends are?"

Tails thought about it. "Where am I anyway?"

"Your on Yoshi's Island!"

The fox was shocked. "Yoshis Island? I've never heard of this place before."

Yoshi was surprised by his comment. "Are you serious? Yoshi's Island is one of the most famous places in the Mushroom Kingdom!"  
He looked back at the fox. "It's like your from another world or something." He gave out a small chuckle.

_Another world._ Tails thought. "I think it's because I _am_."

The Yoshi stopped again. "Wait, you're saying your from another world now?"

Tails nodded. He explained to the Yoshi in full detail of what happened to him. Yoshi was pretty fascinated his story. "A dark hole? Evil scientist? And a super fast hedgehog? Wow! That seems crazier than the adventures I've been on."

Tails chuckled. Then asked him a question. "Why did you save me back there? Isn't it kind of strange to help someone you don't know?"

Yoshi smiled at him. "In my village, they've told about a great hero from long ago, who saved a baby that fell out of the sky. He helped that baby rescue his brother and return them to their parents. That story has inspired me to help others when they're in trouble."

"Interesting." Tails commented. "You know, you kind of remind me of Sonic, since he also rescues anybody who's in trouble."

Yoshi continued walking through the forest, with Tails on his back. They crossed over a small river. "I'll take you back to my village and get that leg feeling better!"

"Sounds good." Tails replied.

The two were almost out of the forest, when they heard a sound of an engine coming towards them.

"What is that?" asked Yoshi. He looked back.

Tails listened, trying to make out what it was. "Sounds like some sort of helicopter." He looked back at Yoshi, who had a nervous look on his face. The sound was getting closer.

"We should get to the village, fast!" said Yoshi. Tails nodded. The dinosaur started to walk faster. The sound was getting closer and closer. It ended up going above them, then right in front of them.

Suddenly, a large, floating ship flew down in front of them. Yoshi quickly stopped, with Tails holding on. They both looked at the ship.

It was a huge, silver-steel ship, with two rotors on the back and front that helped it float. Three cannons were situated outside of the ships windows. Instead of a bow, the ship had something that looked like a laser-gun with a complicated design. Right under it, a large cannon was place under it. On top of the ship, was a Koopaling at the wheel and a mad-looking scientist looking down at them.

"Hohoho! What do we have here?" exclaimed the scientist.

Tails recognized him. "Oh no! It's Eggman!"

Yoshi looked at him. "Eggman? You mean that evil guy in your story?" He looked at the doctor. "How is he here?"

"I don't know. I guess he got sucked into the dark hole too!"

"Certainly I have!" shouted Eggman. "And I've gotten myself a menacing machine to destroy anyone who faces me!"

"_Hey!_" yelled out the Koopaling. "Remember, this is my dad's best airship! If anything happens to it, he'll get all angry and yell at us!"

"Not now, Junior!" Eggman looked back at Tails and Yoshi. "Now, my fox friend! Where is Sonic?"

"I don't know where he is!" Tails yelled back.

Eggman was surprised. "Sonic isn't here!" He turned back to Junior. "I thought you said he was heading to this island!"

"He was!" Junior replied. "So much for that_ hedgehog_ being fast!"

Eggman was frustrated. "Hmph! Since Sonic isn't here, I'm guessing you and your dinosaur friend will suffice!" He pointed at them. "Junior! Capture those two!"

Junior steered the wheel of the airship, pointing the bow towards Yoshi and Tails.

"I think you better run, Yoshi!" commanded Tails. Yoshi agreed and soon ran in the opposite direction, Tails hanging on for his life. The airship chased after them.

They ran, deeper and deeper into the forest, hoping to not get caught into Eggman's clutches...

_.._

_.._

_To be continued.._.

* * *

_Looks like Yoshi and Tails are in big trouble! Will anyone come to their rescue? Will they get out by themselves? Where's Sonic when you need him! Stay tuned!_

**_Author Notes: This chapter was pretty easy to think of. Next chapter will have more action! I was wondering at first if I should make Yoshi talk in this chapter, or save it for the next, but I decided right now was alright. Next chapter will be up later this week! Hoping you guys like! Enjoy!_**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	6. Airship Chase! Run!

**_Chapter 6: Airship Chase! Run!_**

**_Yoshi's Island, Forest Area..._**

"Run faster, _Yoshi_!" yelled Tails. He was holding tightly onto Yoshi's saddle with one hand, trying not to fall off of the speeding dinosaur. He was also holding onto the watermelon Yoshi gave to him. They were running through the forest, near the mountains of Yoshi Island. Behind them, was an airship, chasing after them.

"Hohoho! You two won't escape from us!" Eggman called out. He stood on the deck of the airship, while Junior was steering.

"_Weeeee!_ This is fun!" Junior exclaimed. He saw Yoshi turn a left, so he steered the airship, avoiding crashing into the trees.

Yoshi was running as fast as he could so he and Tails wouldn't get captured by the mad scientist and Koopaling. "Don't worry, Tails! I'm one of the fastest runners in the whole Mushroom Kingdom! There is no way those two will catch us!"

Tails hoped he was right. If they were caught by Eggman, who knows what he would do to them. Yoshi turned to the right, but the airship was still right behind them.

Eggman had enough of chasing. He turned to Junior. "Okay! I think it's time for some fire-power! What do you have on this ship that we can shoot at them?"

Junior thought for a moment. "We have the Bullet Bills we can fire with the side cannons!"

Eggman nodded. "Anything that will stop those two from getting away!"

The Koopaling hopped up and down. "Alright!" He looked at his control panel, whic was right under the airships steering wheel. Various buttons were on it, blinking at different rates. He pushed a small, blue button. Instantly, at the side of the airships, six cannons, three on each side, pointed forward. Each loaded with a Bullet Bill.

"FIRE!" shouted Junior.

The cannons shot the Bullet Bills at top speed, directing towards the dinosaur and fox. Tails looked behind him, shocked that they were about to get hit.

"Yoshi! Incoming!" Tails warned. Yoshi looked behind him, seeing the six Bullet Bills chasing after. Reacting to the sight, he swiftly jumped into the air, causing the first two Bullet Bills to miss and explode into each other. Yoshi landed, still running form the airship. The next two Bullet Bills were closing in. He quickly turned a left. The Bullet Bills reacted late, still going forward, and ended up crashing into a nearby tree. Two more Bullet Bills were left. Yoshi, deciding to improvise a little, looked behind him, finding which Bullet Bill was closer. He aimed at that one, then spit his tongue out, catching and holding the Bullet Bill in his mouth. He jumped into the air and spit the Bullet Bill back out behind him, causing it to collide with the other Bullet Bill.

Tails was impressed. "Wow, Yoshi! That was amazing!" Yoshi grinned at his achievement.

"Gah! How did he do that?" yelled Eggman. He was frustrated that the Bullet Bill attack didn't work. "We won't give up this easily!" He commanded Junior to fire another round of Bullet Bills. The Koopaling did as he was told, and another six Bullet Bills were now chasing Tails and Yoshi.

"Yoshi! Looks like there's more!" Tails pointed to the Bullet Bills. Yoshi nodded, preparing for the next group of incoming missiles.

_These guys won't give up! I don't know how long I can keep this up..._

* * *

**_Yoshi Island, Outside of Forest Area..._**

_What was that?_ thought Mario. He, along with the Yoshi Village leader's trusted companion, Brown Yoshi, were right outside the forest area near the mountains when they heard a loud explosion.

Mario listened closer. "That sounded like it was coming from inside the forest!" He motioned the Brown Yoshi to come along. They both entered the forest, searching where the sound was coming from.

"Come on! I think the sound was over there!" Mario followed where the sound came from, with Brown Yoshi following right behind. They heard another exploding noise, this time, it was closer.

The two looked around a bit. They both saw a glimpse of something running through the forest. Something huge was chasing after it. Mario decided to follow it. The Brown Yoshi was nervous, but he still followed the brave plumber.

Suddenly, they heard a loud, booming noise, like something got shot out of a cannon. At first, they both ducked, but soon realized nothing was being shot at them.

"That sound must be coming from that thing we saw speeding through the forest!" Mario assumed. He quickly walked to where the sound came from, the Brown Yoshi followed.

As they got closer to the sound, they heard something else. It was the sound of running. I wonder what that could be? thought Mario. The running noise grew louder. He soon realized that whatever was running, it was heading towards their direction.

He looked to where the running was coming from. Without warning, a green dinosaur rushed out of the bushes. It was carrying something that looked like a fox. They were heading full speed, right at Mario.

"OOF!"

The dinosaur and fox collided into Mario with a loud thud. They all collapsed to the ground. Mario groaned in pain. He shook his head from the hit. He felt all dizzy. Once the feeling went away, he looked in front of him. He saw the green dinosaur sitting on the ground, rubbing his nose. Beside him, was the fox, who was holding a watermelon in one hand and feeling his leg with the other.

Mario recognized the dinosaur. "Yoshi?"

Yoshi stopped rubbing his nose and looked at the plumber. "Mario?"

The fox looked at Mario, then to Yoshi. "Who is that guy?"

"He's a good friend of mine!" Yoshi exclaimed. He stood up, also helping the fox up. Mario walked up to them.

"What are you doing here, Yoshi?"

"I was helping this fox get back to the village." He pointed at the fox. Mario looked at him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The fox hesitated for a moment. "I'm Tails."

Mario nodded. "My name is-a Mario!" He held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you." Tails shook his hand. He asked them a question. "What were you guys running from?"

Yoshi and Tails put on a worried look. "We were getting chased by this huge, floating ship!" Tails explained.

Mario was shocked. "A huge floating ship?"

Suddenly, a large airship brushed through some trees and stopped right in front of them. Mario was surprised, seeing how different the airship looked. Wow! I've-a never seen an airship like this one before!

The Brown Yoshi, terrified of the sight, screamed in horror, and ran out of the forest, back to the village.

"Were you with him?" asked Yoshi. Mario nodded.

"Yeah, but he isn't brave as much as you!"

Yoshi grinned. "Thanks!"

A tall man walked up into sight on the airship. "Well! Seems like another one has joined the party!" He was obviously looking at Mario.

Junior looked down at them, seeing the plumber with the fox and dinosaur. "No way! Mario! How'd he get here!"

Eggman realized who the plumber was. "Aha! So you must be the infamous Mario I've heard from the Koopa King himself!" He crossed his arms.

Mario stepped forward. "Bowser Jr? What are you doing here?"

Tails was surprised everyone knew each other. "You know him too?" He pointed to Junior.

"He is the son of an evil Koopa King called Bowser." Mario started. "They both have been trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, but me and my brother have always stopped their plans!"

"So I'm guessing what Bowser said was true." commented Eggman. "You are the one who's been ruining his plans!"

"Who are you, anyway?" Mario asked.

"I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik!" he introduced himself. "Known to all as Dr. Eggman! I've been trying many years to conquer the world, but my plans always get foiled by this annoying hedgehog!"

Mario noticed what the doctor said. "Are you talking about Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Tails and Eggman both looked at Mario.

"You know Sonic?" Tails asked.

Mario nodded. "Yes. I saved him when he was drowning in a lake." He raised his brow. "I'm guessing you're friends with him?"

"Yeah." Tails answered. "Is he alright?"

"Where is he?" demanded Eggman. "I want to know, NOW!"

Mario crossed his arms. "I'm sorry, but I can't say where he is." He knew that the real truth was he didn't know where he was.

Eggman was furious. "Alright! Enough chattering now!" He pointed Junior to the wheel. "It's time to capture all three of you!"

"You won't get away with this, Eggman!" Tails shouted.

Without warning, three Bullet Bills got shot out of the airships side cannon. Tails quickly climbed back onto Yoshi's saddle. They both got out of one of the Bullet Bills way. One headed toward Mario, but he quickly jumped onto it and kicked down into the ground. Yoshi swallowed the last Bullet Bill. Mario saw this. "Yoshi! Spit it toward the airship!"

Yoshi knew what Mario was up to. He looked at the airship and quickly spit the Bullet Bill out. It rocketed to the airship and hit it with a small explosion. The airship rocked in the air a bit. Junior and Eggman kept their balance on the swaying airship.

"Oh no! They hit the airship!" shouted Junior. He steered the wheel of the airship, trying to keep it in balance.

"Nice job, Yoshi!" exclaimed Mario. He gave the dinosaur a high-five.

"That was pretty good!" commented Tails.

"Thanks guys!" Yoshi replied.

"Grr! I won't let you get away with that!" Eggman growled. "Junior! Chase after them!"

Junior went full throttle on the airships engine. He turned it towards the three heroes.

"RUN!" shouted Yoshi. He ran from the airship, with Tails riding on his back. Mario was following right behind them, trying to keep up.

"There is no way those three will escape!" Eggman said.

The airship soon chased after the running trio. They all headed toward the mountains...

* * *

**_Yoshi Village, Outside Leader's House..._**

"What took you so long with those apples, Luigi?" asked the Village Leader. He was relaxing on his straw chair outside his home. Luigi was walking up to him, with a bowl of apples.

"Sorry! I had to fight with this grumpy Yoshi just to get these!" Luigi explained. He put the bowl of apples on the table beside the Vilage Leader. He rubbed his head, which was still aching from the egg the grumpy Yoshi threw at him.

The Village Leader took an apple from the bowl. "Might I say, my citizens know how to pick apples well!" He swallowed the apple whole. He looked at Luigi, who was staring at the ground. "Is there something the matter, green stache?"

Luigi looked up. "Oh it's-a nothing. I'm just dissapointed that I didn't go with my brother." He sat down on the ground. "I kind of feel like I...failed him."

The Village Leader ate another apple. "Oh, don't worry! I'm sure he understands! After all, he is your brother."

Luigi nodded. "I guess so."

There was a small silence between them. Then they heard a distant screaming from them.

The Village Leader looked up. "What is that annoying noise?"

Luigi looked around. He noticed something out in the plains, behind the Village Leader's house. "Is that, Brown Yoshi?"

He was right. Running back from the forest, was Brown Yoshi, screaming his head off. He ran to Luigi and the Village Leader all shaken up.

"What is the problem?" asked the Village Leader.

Luigi stood up. "Is my brother okay?"

Brown Yoshi pointed to the forest and started to explain what had happened. The Village Leader and Luigi were astonished.

"A big, steel airship? Bowser Jr? A tall scientist and a fox?" Luigi shouted. "Mammamia! That sounds like trouble!" He started running to the forest. "I've gotta help my brother out, just in case!"

The Village Leader stopped him. "Wait Luigi! Before you go, you must take these." The Village Leader looked through his pocket. After taking out a few things, he had in his hand two Wooden Hammers.

Luigi was surprised that the Village Leader could fit two enormous hammers in such a small space. He took the two hammers. They were both half the size as Luigi. The head of the hammers were really thick. "Uh, thanks Village Leader!" He ran to the forest, carrying the two hammers in his hand.

"Good luck to you, Luigi!" shouted the Village Leader. He turned to Brown Yoshi and whispered to him. "Finally, he's gone..."

* * *

**_Yoshi Island, Near Mountains of Forest Area..._**

"This is getting crazy!" shouted Yoshi. He was still running through the forest, with Tails on his back. He looked at him. "Do you still have the watermelon?"

Tails showed it to him. "Why do you need this anyway?"

Yoshi ignored the comment, still running from the airship. Mario was behind him, still trying to keep up.

"Do you still have any room on your saddle?" panted Mario.

Yoshi shook his head. "Sorry, Mario! Tails' leg is broken and needs a ride."

"OH!" Mario gasped. "Are you okay, Tails?"

Tails nodded. "I'm good."

The three were still running from the chasing airship. Eggman was getting impatiant.

"GAH! Can't this thing go any faster!" he complained.

"I'd go faster, Eggman." answered Junior. "But these stinkin' trees are in the way!"

Mario, Yoshi and Tails got near the end of the forest. They reached an area where the trees surrounded around a small, clear, grass plain. In the middle of the plain, was a huge rock.

"What's this rock doing here?" asked Yoshi.

Mario pointed out. "It's not a rock, Yoshi! It's a mountain!" They all looked up. It was a mountain. They saw other mountains around the area. The mountains was light-blue color. It stood high into the sky. Near the summit of the mountain, you could see snow laying down there. Clouds were circling around the top.

The trio tried to climb the mountain on foot, but it was very steep at the bottom.

"We're going to have to jump, Yoshi!" said Mario.

"I can't jump that high when I have someone on me!" explained Yoshi.

The airship was getting closer to them.

Mario and Yoshi thought for a moment, thinking how they both could climb the mountain.

"I have an idea!" said Tails. The plumber and dinsoaur looked at him. "Why don't I fly Yoshi up there?"

Yoshi was confused. "Fly? Like you have wings!" He chuckled.

Tails threw the watermelon onto the ground. Yoshi was surprised. He was about to say something to Tails, but realized his feet started getting lifted off the ground.

"What the-" He looked behind him. He noticed that Tails wasn't sitting on his saddle anymore. He was holding onto it with both hands. He then realized that Tails two tails were swirling in a helicoptor motion. Tails was flying!

"Whoa! You can fly Tails?" Yoshi exclaimed.

"Well, kind of." Tails replied. "I can move my tails fast enough to make myself hover in the air."

"Now that's fantastico!" commented Mario. "Now come on, let's go up the mountain!" He jumped up high onto a small ledge on the mountain. Tails followed him with Yoshi.

The airship caught up with the trio. They saw them going up the mountain.

"Whoa! That fox is flying!" shouted Junior, looking up at them. "You don't see that everyday!"

"Hmph! They think they can get away from us by going up a mountain!" Eggman laughed. "They should realized this is a floating airship!" He looked at Junior. "Try firing the laser gun!"

Junior was surprised at the moment. "The laser gun? That thing is way too powerful!"

Eggman looked at him with an angry face. "If you won't do it, then I will!" He walked up to the control panel. Junior got out of his way. "Which button is for the laser gun?"

"Uh, the purple button!" answered Junior.

Eggman slammed onto the button. Suddenly, the laser gun in the front of the airship began to glow. A loud, screeching noise came from it. On the mountain, Mario, Yoshi and Tails were halfway up the mountain when they saw the laser gun power up.

"This doesn't look good!" Yoshi said.

"We better get out of the lasers way you guys!" Tails shouted.

Mario nodded. He jumped higher onto the mountain. Tails tried to fly him and Yoshi up to the next ledge on the mountain, when they heard the laser gun get shot.

A large, bright purple beam was shot from the laser. It was heading right towards Yoshi and Tails.

Mario was on the higher ledge when he saw this. "YOSHI! TAILS! WATCH OUT!"

Before the two could react, the laser beam hit. It didn't hit them, but it hit the mountain side. Debris of rocks and pebbles flew in different directions. A large puff of smoke came from where the laser hit. Yoshi and Tails fell down from the force of the explosion. They fell to the ground with a large thud.

"BULLSEYE!" exclaimed Junior. He hopped up and down.

"Hohoho! This laser is pretty powerful!" said Eggman.

Mario was holding tightly on the mountains ledge when the laser hit. His hat flew off. Luckily, the laser didn't hit anywhere near where he was. He looked down, seeing the huge hole the laser made in the mountain. He also saw Yoshi and Tails, lying down on the ground, unconscious.

"Yoshi! Tails! Get up!" he shouted. There was no response. He was just about to go down there and see if they were still alive, when he heard another charging from the beam.

"If you get any closer to them, Mario, you'll get turned into a plumber bits!" warned Eggman. He let Junior steer the ship towards the bodies of Yoshi and Tails. "I want you to scoop them up, Junior."

"Okay, Eggman." Juniors pushed another button on the control panel. He was pretty shocked at what the doctor did. An small shaft opened at the bottom of the airship. Out came a huge claw. It was going to grab Yoshi and Tails.

_Oh no! Now what am I going to do?_ thought Mario. _My hat is gone and my friends are in danger._ He was sweating. He didn't have any options left. All he could do was watch his friends getting captured by Eggman and Junior.

The claw was about to grab onto Tails' body when...

"_No way!_" shouted a voice.

Mario looked around him. He didn't see anyone else near them.

"Who was that?" asked Junior. He looked around the airship, thinking someone sneaked onto it.

"Wait a minute" said Eggman. "I recognize that voice!"

Suddenly, a blue blur struck the airships claw. It broke like a twig. The blue blur quickly jumped into the air and struck onto the airship's laser gun. The laser started making malfunctioning noises. Sparks flew out it. The light from the laser gun faded out, signaling it shut down.

"Oh no! The laser gun broke!" yelled Junior. He ran up to the laser gun, trying to see if he could fix it. It was badly damaged. "Alright! Who was the one who did this! Show yourself!"

The blue blur landed beside Yoshi and Tails' bodies. Mario recognized the figure.

"Sonic!"

The blue hedgehog gave the plumber a thumbs up. On his head, he was wearing Mario's red hat.

"Thought you might be needing this." said Sonic. He took off the hat and flung it to Mario. The plumber jumped down to the ground, catching the hat in the air. He put his hat back on.

"W-w-w-what! Sonic!" shouted Eggman. He stomped on the airship, angry his arch-rival stopped him. "Grr, _I'm going to get you for this!_"

Sonic ignored Eggman's comment. He crouched down to Tails' body. "Tails. Are you okay?"

Tails' made a small groan. "Sonic..."

"Don't worry buddy, I'm here."

Mario hurried to Yoshi, who slowly sat up. "Yoshi! Are you alright?"

Yoshi rubbed his head. "I'm fine." He looked around him. "Is Tails okay?"

Mario pointed to Sonic and Tails. Sonic was already carry Tails on his back. The plumber then helped Yoshi up. They walked up to Sonic.

"Sonic, where were you?" Mario asked.

"Oh, you know. Just running around the Mushroom Kingdom." He looked at Tails, who was calmly resting his head on his shoulders. He looked back at Mario. "How did you guys get here?"

"I was told a yellow comet was heading towards Yoshi's Island." explained Mario.

Sonic thought for a moment. "Weird. I saw the exact same comet heading here too."

Mario nodded. "You should get Tails back to the Village."

Suddenly, Eggman slammed a button on the control panel. "None of you are going anywhere!"

Suddenly, the cannon in front of the airship shot out a huge Banzai Bill towards the gang. It was going so fast that none of them could react. It was about to hit all of them when a certain green plumber jumped in front of them, holding a wooden hammer.

"HIIIIIIYYYAAAAAA!"

The green plumber swung the hammer, full force, directly at the Banzai Bill. It hit, causing the Banzai Bill to hurl backwards, right directly towards the airship.

Junior was still frustrated over the broken laser gun, when he saw the Banzai Bill flying towards them "WAAAAAAH! IT"S COMING BACK!" He started to run back to Eggman.

Eggman tried to steer the airship out of the way, but was too late. The Banzai Bill exploded into the airship. A large booming noise came from it. The Banzai Bill and the airship broke apart at contact. Eggman and Junior flew high into the sky from the force. Once the explosion faded out, nothing was left.

"Whoa...that was amazing!" exclaimed Yoshi.

Mario looked at the green plumber. It was none other than his brother, Luigi.

"Good job, bro!" Mario said. His brother turned to him.

"It was all thanks to this hammer!" Luigi held it up to show it to everyone. To his dismay, the hammer was broken in two. The part with the hammer head was dangling off the part he was holding.

"Oh no! My hammer broke!" Luigi argued.

"Don't worry, Luigi. I bet you could always get another hammer." comforted Sonic.

"Well, I have this hammer." Luigi searched through his pocket and held out another hammer. "But this one is for Mario."

Mario took the hammer. "Thanks, Luigi."

"Besides, that move you did was pretty awesome!" reminded Sonic.

Luigi stared at the ground for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you're right!"

Tails gave out a small groan. "Oww, my leg still hurts..."

"Come on! We should head back to the castle." said Mario. "I'm betting the princess has something that will fix Tails' broken leg."

Everyone agreed. They headed back to the village. Luigi thanked the Village leader for the hammer, even though it was broken. The Village leader gave him another spare hammer, telling him not to break that one. They all got onto the Chop Chop Helicopter and flew back to the castle.

The sun started to set once they got back...

_.._

_.._

_To be continued...

* * *

_

_Everyone is back together! Looks like Eggman and Junior have gotten themselves in a bad situation! Now that they have found Tails, what about Amy? Stay tuned!_

_**Author Notes: Wow! This is a really long chapter! Well, you have to admit, there was a lot of action! I'm hoping you guys enjoyed this chapter. The next two chapters will be up sometime next week!**_

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	7. Night at the Castle!

**_Chapter 7: Night In The Castle!_**

_**Peach's Castle, Helicopter Pad...**_

The doors of the Chop Chop Helicopter slowed to a stop. The roar of the engine faded away. The doors of the helicopter opened, with Mario and Luigi climbing out. Yoshi followed them, with Tails on his saddle. Sonic came out last, closing the doors behind them.

They landed on the helicopter pad behind the castle. The sun was starting to set in the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad retainers were scrambling outside, watching as the group of heroes were heading to the castle's back doors.

"Where are we?" Tails asked. He was rubbing on his leg, which got injured on their journey at Yoshi's Island.

"We're at the princess' castle." told Luigi. He was walking right beside his brother.

"A castle, of a _princess_?" said Tails. He was kind of surprised from the news, and also a bit nervous. He had never seen a princess before.

Sonic smiled at him. He was walking beside the fox and dinosaur. "Don't worry Tails! This princess is really nice!" He looked at the fox's leg. "Is your leg okay? Do you need ice or something?"

Tails shook his head. "It's okay Sonic. I bet my leg will get better in a week or two."

Yoshi looked back, checking on Tails' leg. "You took a bad beating back on the island. The princess knows just what to do on your leg to make it heal faster."

Tails nodded. Yoshi chuckled. "You know, you really surprised me when you started flying with your tails!"

"Your not the only one." said Sonic "He also surprised me and all of our friends when he did that."

"Sorry about that, Yoshi." Tails smiled. "I should have told you about that before we got ambushed by Eggman and that turtle."

Sonic thought for a moment. "Who was that turtle anyway?"

"He's the son of the evil Koopa King." Mario explained. "He and his father have been trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom for years."

"But me and my brother have always stopped him!" Luigi exclaimed. "Isn't that right, bro?" He gave a gentle nudge with his elbow on Mario. His brother nodded back at him.

"Hmph. He reminds me of Eggman if you ask me." Sonic pointed out.

"Yeah. Those two have some pretty ironic similarities." Tails added in.

The gang was now in front of the castle's back doors. Mario knocked on them. The doors opened up, revealing a long hallway, with two doors at the sides and a stairway leading down to the basement door. The gang walked in, heading for the door to the left. Mario opened it up and they all walked in. They ended up in the castle's foyer. Toad retainers were walking about, doing their castle deeds. Princess Peach was there, along with Toadsworth. She saw the Mario Bros with Yoshi, Sonic and Tails and walked up to them.

"I'm glad you guys are alright." Peach said. "What happened back at Yoshi's Island? I'd really like to know."

Mario explained in full detail of the events at Yoshi's Island. The princess and Toadsworth were really surprised from what happened.

"My goodness! That sound like it was a hassle!" exclaimed Toadsworth. "So you say that an evil scientist may have teamed up with Bowser? That does not sound good at all!"

Sonic stepped in. "That evil scientist's name is Eggman. And I gotta tell you, he is someone you don't want to mess around with."

"So, you've know that Eggman for years now, Sonic?" asked Peach.

The hedgehog nodded. "Yeah. He is the one I was talking about awhile back when I came here."

Peach and Toadsworth nodded.

"So how about the comet? What was it about?" Toadsworth asked.

Sonic showed Peach and Toadsworth to Tails. He was still rubbing on his leg.

"This was what the comet was." Sonic said. He patted on Tails' back. Tails looked behind him, seeing the princess and her adviser in front of him..

"Oh, umm...hi." Tails greeted. He waved at Peach, who waved back at him. Toadsworth eyes were attached to the fox's two tails.

"Hello there." Peach replied. "What is your name?"

The fox hesitated for a moment. "...Tails."

"I'm assuming that your name came from the two tails you have on you?" Toadsworth wondered.

"Yeah. That's my nickname though. My real name is Miles Prower."

Toadsworth chuckled. "Haha! What a capital name! In fact, it kind of sounds like you're saying _Miles Per Hour!_"

Peach nodded. "So you must be the one Sonic talked about when he was here before."

"Are you still okay from the crash?" Peach asked.

"Well, to be honest..." Tails looked at his leg. "My leg got injured when I hit the ground..."

Peach nodded. She walked up to Tails leg and felt it. "Oh my. There seems to be a big bump here. Don't worry. I have something that will heal it." She motioned Toadsworth to go get her special first- aid kit. The old adviser quickly headed to her master bedroom and got out the kit. The princess searched through her first-aid kit. She took out a roll of bandage, and an empty ice pack. She asked Luigi to go get her some ice from the kitchen.

After about ten minutes trying to remove some ice from the ice tray, the plumber came back with a handful of ice cubes. The princess put all the ice into the ice pack. She then rummaged through the first aid kit again, and took out a red mushroom, with white dots. She added it into the ice pack, suddenly giving it a red glow around it. She put the ice pack onto Tails' leg, then wrapped the bandages around it so it wouldn't fall off. "There you go. This will help your leg heal faster." assured Peach.

"Thank you, Princess Peach." acknowledged Tails.

Sonic inspected the ice pack on his friend. "Umm, not to be nosy or anything, but what was that mushroom thing you added in the ice pack?"

"The princess added in a Super Mushroom" explained Mario. "Super Mushrooms are able to help someone heal from all their injuries if they eat it."

Sonic thought for a moment. "Then why couldn't Tails just eat it instead of just putting it on the ice pack?"

"Well, you see, you two are from another dimension, if I am correct?" said Peach. Sonic and Tails nodded. "It wouldn't be safe if you two eat something your bodies aren't accustomed to in our world. If you did eat the Super Mushroom, and your body wasn't familiar with it, then you would get Mushroom Fever. So just to be safe, we'll heal your leg in a slower matter, but it will be quicker than just an ice pack by itself."

Sonic and Tails nodded. "That does make sense." said Tails. "So how long do you think my leg will take to feel better?"

"Your leg will be fine, maybe three to five days." Toadsworth explained. "The princess has been taught many medical techniques from the finest doctors of the Mushroom Kingdom. In fact, did you know that Princess Peach was a nurse for Doctor Mario?"

Sonic looked at Mario, who sweat dropped. "You were a doctor, Mario?"

Mario shrugged. "I know my things."

_GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!_

Yoshi looked around. "What was that?"

"T-That sounded l-l-liked a GOOMBA!" yelled Luigi. He scrambled to hide behind His brothers back. Mario gave an annoyed look. "Luigi! That was my stomach!" Mario comforted him. "I haven't had anything to eat for the past six hours!"

Sonic put a hand to his chest. "Now that you mention it, I'm kind of getting hungry too!"

"Why don't I cook up something for all of you?" She looked to Sonic and Tails. "Does Lasgna sound good?"

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "My treat!" He looked at Tails. "Whaddya think, Tails?"

Tails nodded. "Sure!"

The group headed for the kitchen, ready for a well-deserved dinner...

* * *

**_Bowsers Castle, Throne Room..._**

"GAAAAAAAAHHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO SCREWED UP ON SUCH A SIMPLE TASK!" roared out the Koopa King. He sat up from his throne chair, causing the whole castle floor to shake. Eggman and Junior felt the shockwave. Bowser paced back and forth. "That airship was one of the most powerful of my fleet, and also my favorite one out of them all! How could you two mess up on such a simple task?"

Eggman was the first to speak up. He and Junior were covered in smoke from the explosion back at Yoshi's Island. "Bowser, might I say first, don't blame your son from what happened. Second of all, It wasn't our fault! If Sonic the Hedgehog hadn't decided to pop in and help the plumber and his friends, then we wouldv'e gotten the job done!"

Bowser looked at him. "Wait. Is it true? Mario was there when that hedgehog of yours suddenly barged in and ruined your assault?"

"It's true, Bowser. You shouldn't underestimate the power of that hedgehog."explained Eggman. "His agility and speed is something no one can compare to."

Bowser nodded. He looked at his son. Junior noticed his father looking at him. "Uuhhh, he's telling the truth, Papa. That blue spiky hedgehog thing is really fast! You wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it."

The Koopa King sat down back to his throne, calming down a bit. "Fine, I'll believe you two. But if something like this happens again, Eggman, you're going to wish I never helped you into my castle."

Eggman nodded. He was pretty surprised the Koopa King could tear up such a temper tantrum.

Bowser relaxed into his throne. "So, I'm guessing this means our two arch-rivals are now working together."

"I've realized that, Koopa King." Eggman commented. He thought for a moment. "This could cause trouble for the both of us, I assume."

"Yep. Who knew that a _plumber _and a _hedgehog_ would be such a bad thing for a _turtle king_ and a _mad scientist_!" joked Junior. He looked at Bowser and Eggman. They weren't amused. "Wow! Tough crowd! I'm gonna check up on my brothers!" He rushed out of the throne room.

Eggman looked back at Bowser. "Might I ask, how did you get all of you children?"

Bowser gave him a menacing look, Eggman took it as a warning. "That's enough of that. Now, back to our rivals. It's a bad thing they're teaming up. It could ruin our future plans"

Eggman nodded. "Yes, it would be. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking about your end of our deal!" reminded Bowser.

The mad scientist thought for a moment. "Oh yes...that deal."

Bowser grinned. "Yes. That deal. The one where you would build me a super-mega-ultra-amazing machine!"

Eggman scratched the back if his head. "Well, what do you have in mind for the machine then?"

Bowser already had his mind made up. "I had something in mind, but because of our little 'problems' in the way, I'm thinking you should make something to get rid of them!"

Eggman was confused to what Bowser was trying to say. "What are you talking about?"

"Grrrr. I'm talking about Mario and Sonic! Make a machine that will get rid of them!"

"Oh! Now I get! I like your thinking, Bowser!"

The Koopa King gave a low grumble. "And I thought this scientist had an IQ of 300..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing..."

Eggman headed for the doorway, then stopped. "Umm, Bowser, may I ask, do you have anywhere I can work in private?"

Bowser pointed to the doorway. "I have a laboratory where all my machines are made. Ask my Koopa Troopas to direct you there. Use anything you want to use. Make something that will stomp that plumber and hedgehog!"

Eggman nodded. "I'll get right on it!" He exited the throne room.

Bowser rubbed his forehead. "_Man_. I need something to get this stress outta me..." He thought for a moment. _My master plan. Once those two are out of the picture, then there's no doubt it will fail me..._

* * *

**_Peach's Castle, Dining Room..._**

It was night time in Toad Town once the gang was finished the plates of lasgna. Yoshi was munching on some leftovers everyone had on their plates. Tails was the first one done. "That was really good, Princess."

"Thank you." acknowledged Peach. She looked at Sonic, who was staring down on his plate. "Is there something wrong, Sonic?"

Sonic looked up, hearing his name. "Oh, it's just nothing." Mario saw his worried tone in his voice.

"Are you sure nothing is bothering you, Sonic?"

Sonic gave a small grin. "Don't worry about me guys! I'm okay."

Mario remembered what happened to Sonic in his world. _He was fighting with Eggman. We know where he is alright. He was also with his two friends. Tails and..._

"Sonic! Are you thinking about what happened to your other friend? The one called Amy?" Sonic's ears rose when Mario said her name.

"Ohh, umm, yeah."

Luigi smiled. "You must really care about this girl, Sonic." He watched the hedgehog to see if he would react.

Sonic crossed his arms, giving a grin. "I care about all my friends. There's nothing different about her."

"Suuuurree. That's what you say." teased Luigi.

Tails knew Sonic was worried. "Don't worry, Sonic. I'm sure Amy will be okay."

Sonic nodded. _But it's night time. Who knows what creatures could be lurking out in the Mushroom Kingdom._ He looked down to his pocket, remembering the Glow Block he got and how he had gotten it.

"Do you two have anywhere to stay during the night, Sonic and Tails?" Princess Peach asked. Tails shook his head.

"To be honest, I don't know where we'll sleep at all."

"Then it's settled then." said Toadsworth. "You two will sleep in the castles guest rooms until you get back to your dimensions."

Tails looked at Toadsworth. "Are you sure?" Toadsworth nodded. The fox looked at the princess, who was also nodding her head. "Alright! This is awesome!" He turned to Sonic. "We're going to sleep in a castle!" Sonic nodded. He was pretty excited too, sleeping in a castle and all. But still...

"Excuse me, but I think I need some fresh air." The hedgehog quickly ran to the dining room door and ran out the castle. It was so quick, everyone just saw a blue blur.

Yoshi looked up, who just finished the leftover lasagna. "What was his problem?"

Luigi pat on the dinosaurs head. "Oh, it's just nothing I guess." He looked at Tails, seeing if he had an answer.

"Knowing Sonic and all, I bet he went out for a short run, to think about what's been happening recently." Tails said.

Mario nodded. "Maybe I should go check on him. He headed out the dining room, going through the foyer, and soon was outisde on the castle moat. He looked around him. No one was there. He checked around the castle grounds. No one was outside. He waited on the castle moat. He looked at Toad Town, which was right in front of the castle gates. There were a few lights open in the Toad houses. He looked to his left. There was the town lake. The water was sparkling in the moonlight. It remembered him about his adventures. The time when the castles power stars were taken by Bowser. The time when he went on that space journey.

_Those were some pretty crazy adventures._ He thought.

He also remembered when he saved Sonic earlier that day.

_I wonder what he's doing right now_. Something caught his eye. He looked to his right. He thought he saw a sparkle in the sky. The sparkle was gone.

_Must have been nothing._

Mario looked back to the town. He heard the sound of running in the distance. A blue blur ran through the town, over the castle gate, then in front the the moat.

"Oh, hey Mario." said Sonic. He walked up to him.

"Went out for a jog?" asked Mario.

The hedgehog hesitated. "...yeah." He knew he didn't just go for a jog. _No._ He went on a small search.

"Don't worry, Sonic. We'll find her." Mario tried to comfort him. "We found Tails, didn't we?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He looked up into the sky. "Sure is a starry night, isn't it?"

"You bet." Mario replied. They both looked at the starry sky for some time. Mario yawned. "It's-a getting late. Come on. We should get back inside and get some sleep. We'll start searching tomorrow."

The hedgehog nodded. Inside of him, he felt a little hope from his new friends. He followed Mario inside the castle.

_Don't worry, we'll find you..._

_.._

_.._

_To be continued...

* * *

_

_Sonic hasn't been this worried before! What kind of machine will Eggman make? What might be Bowser's master plan? Will the gang be able to find Amy? Stay tuned!_

**_Author Notes:_** _**This chapter feels more of a filler chapter. The next chapter will focus a little more on the plot. Also, for a fun fact, most of this chapter was written on my Ipod Touch. Hope you like! Next chapter will be up, maybe Friday.**_

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	8. Jungle Journey!

**_Chapter 8: Jungle Journey! _**

**_Princess Peach's Castle, Front Gates..._**

It was an early morning in the Mushroom Kingdom. The front gates of the castle opened as a blue hedgehog and a two tailed fox walked out. They looked around, seeing if a certain duo of plumbers came by.

"How long do you think they will take?" asked Tails. He limped around, being careful not to step on his bad leg.

Sonic looked around him. "It's pretty early, Tails. I'm sure they're headed here right now!"

The two friends were waiting for the Mario Bros. They were going on a mission to find their friend.

_I hope she's still okay..._

"Hey, _Sonic! Tails!_" yelled out Luigi. He was in the Toad Town Square, along with his brother, Mario and their friend. Yoshi.

Sonic noticed the three. "Hey guys!" He walked up to them. Tails slowly followed him. He sat on Yoshis saddle.

"I thought you two would still be asleep." said Luigi. "So, are you guys ready to find your friend?"

"Yeah..." replied Sonic.

"Don't worry Sonic. We'll find Amy." Mario comforted him. "If we stick together and search hard, we'll find her in no time!"

Sonic grinned. "Thanks for the support."

"Woah! Yoshi! Stop!" yelled out Tails. The green dinosaur was running around thr town square, chasing his tail, with the poor fox holding on.

"Just watch! I'm going to catch my tail!" exclaimed Yoshi. He had attracted a small crowd of spectators in the square. Thy couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Luigi chased and stopped the dinosaur. "Okay, Yoshi. I think you should stop." He looked to Tails, who was holding on his head, dizzy from the ride. "We've gotta find Amy! Remember?"

Tails' dizzyness soon went away. "Oh, yeah." He shook his head." Come on! We should start searching now!"

Mario and Sonic walked up to them. "But where should we start searching?" the hedgehog asked. "The Mushroom Kingdom is a big place. I know since I explored almost half of it!"

The group though for a moment. Mario remembered the sparkle in the sky last night. He looked in the same direction. The sparkle was just above the jungle. Luigi noticed where Mario was looking. "Got something I. Your mind, bro?"

Mario turned back, then nodded. "We should start searching in the jungle!" He pointed at the area to the left of Peach's Castle. Off in the distance, was a lush jungle, crowded with tall trees, swamps and rivers.

"Are sure she could be there, Mario?" Sonic questioned. Mario assured him.

"I'm having that same feeling when I heard about the yellow comet heading towards Yoshi's Island." The group agreed.

Yoshi hopped into the air, doing a small flutter jump. "Oh yay! We're headed to the jungle!" Tails was still on the dinosaurs saddle, holding on tightly.

"Whoa! Calm down, Yoshi!"

The dino landed, much to the fox's relief. "Sorry, Tails."

Luigi pointed to the town exit. "Alright! Let's-go!"

The group of heroes soon exited Toad Town, and were now on their way to the mysterious jungle area.

The search was on...

* * *

**_Unknown Jungle... _**

"Oww...my head..." The pink hedgehog sat up, feeling her head.

_Nope, no bruises..._

She looked around her. All she saw were trees that rose high to the sky, and patches of bushes around.

_Where am I?_ The pink hedgehog checked her red dress and boots. They were both covered in dirt._ Aww...now I need to wash them!_

The hedgehog decided to sit in place for awhile. She tried to remember what had happened to her. _I was in Empire City...with Tails...and Sonic! We were fighting Eggman, when this dark hole suddenly appeared! It sucked up me and Tails!_ She thought harder. _Did it also suck up Sonic?_

She looked around her._ I wonder where that dark hole sent me..._

"Well, the only way to find out, is to go check around." she said to herself. She slowly stood up, brushing of some of the dirt off her clothes. The pink hedgehog started to walk through he dense jungle, trying to see where she was.

Unaware of her, up on the trees. a certain ape was watching her, and decided to follow...

* * *

**_Mushroom Plains, Outside Unknown Jungle Area..._**

"Well, we're here!" announced Luigi.

The group finally got to the entrance of the jungle. Yoshi was tried from the long walk. "Man! I'm sure tired from that long walk!" said Yoshi.

Tails chuckled. "Wow! You could run away from a speeding airship, but you can't go through a simple ten minute walked?"

Yoshi gave a small growl. He sat down on the ground, causing the fox to fall of his saddle.

"Hey! That wasn't funny!" Tails complained.

"Then why am I laughing?" Yoshi said. He started to laugh out loudly.

Luigi flicked onto the dinosaurs nose. "Stop it you two!" lectured Luigi. "We have to find Amy! Remember?"

Yoshi and Tails nodded. "Fine..." The dinosaur let the fox climbed back onto his saddle.

Sonic checked the outside of the jungle a bit. "This jungle sure looks big!" He looked at Mario. "It might be hard to find Amy, if she_ is_ here."

Mario crossed his arms, giving the hedgehog a small smile. "Trust me, Sonic. I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

The blue hedgehog looked back to the forest. "I hope your right."

_Don't worry, Amy! We'll find you.._.

He looked back to his friends. "Alright guys! Let's start searching!" He did a few quick stretches, then entered the jungle. Mario followed right behind. Luigi was next, with Tails and Yoshi fooling around at the back.

* * *

**_Unknown Jungle, Canyon Area..._**

The pink hedgehog looked at the wooden bridge. It was placed right over a large canyon area. The bridge looked really old, like it was never used for years. It swayed slowly, making a creaking sound. Some of the wooden boards had holes in them and cracks. At the bottom was a small river, with sharp rocks scattered on the ground.

The pink hedgehog gulped at the sight.

_Okay then...here I go._

She took one step on the bridge. There was a small creaking that came from it, but it didn't fall apart. She took another step. It still didn't fall. She took a few more steps. All was well.

_Hey! This isn't so bad!_ She slowly sped up her pace. She was halfway past the bridge, when suddenly...

CRASH!

One of the wooden boards fell out. The pink hedgehogs foot fell through. Luckily, she didn't go through the hole. She quickly got her foot out, taking a few steps back. Suddenly, the the board right under her fell out. She fell through the empty space. Right before she fell, she caught the board right in front of her.

_Phew! That was close!_ She tried to climb back up, but without warning, the board started to crack. She let out a gasp. The board cracked, causing the pink hedgehog tofell, along with the rest of the bridge. She knew right there, this was it. This was the end.

She fell down faster. The ground was getting closer. She heard the bridge crumble into the ground. Knowing she was next, the pink hedgehog closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, when...

WHOOSH!

The pink hedgehog was stopped from the fall. She opened her eyes. He realized she was being carried, by a huge, ape-like creature. The creature landed with a thud. She was put down. They landed on the other side of the canyon. The pink hedgehog got a closer look at the ape creature.

Sure enough, it was an ape. It's fur was the color brown. It was pretty huge. with really broad shoulders and huge muscles. Something that made the ape unique was it's red tie. It had the initials, "DK" on it.

The ape inspected the pink hedgehog. "Are you okay li'l girl?"

She was surprised the ape could talk. "Oh, I'm fine." She looked up to the ape. "Thanks for saving me."

The ape grinned, putting his hand behind his back. "Hehe! No need to mention it!" He put his other hand in front of him. "I'm Donkey Kong!"

The pink hedgehog hesitated for a moment, then shook his hand. "I'm Amy. Amy Rose"

"Wow! That's a pretty name" the ape replied, giving a big grin. Amy smiled. "So, why is a little girl like you doing here all by yourself?"

Amy rubbed her left arm. "Well, you not going to believe this, but..."' She started to explain what had happened to her in the past few days. Donkey Kong was pretty astonished by her story.

"Wow! That sounds really rough for ya!" He looked around. "So, do you know where your friends are?"

Amy thought for a moment. " I don't know where they are. They could have been teleported somewhere else around here." She looked around her. "Where am I anyway?"

"You are in the Kongo Jungle!" exclaimed Donkey Kong. Amy was surprised. "Kongo Jungle? I don't remember a place on Earth with that name!"

Donkey Long was confused. "Earth? You're in the Mushroom Kingdom!"

Amy went wide-eyed. "Mushroom Kingdom?" She thought for a moment. _Could that dark hole have transported us into a different world?_

Suddenly, a dark, blue shroud of mist appeared behind them. Amy and Donkey Kong checked it.

"What is that?" Amy asked. She took a step closer, but Donkey Kong stepped in front of her.

"You might want to stand back." Donkey Kong cautioned. "This thing looks dangerous."

The dark mist suddenly started to go crazy. It slowly started to form into a figure. At first, the Amy and Donkey Kong couldn't make out what the figure looked like. But after a few seconds, Amy realized what the figure was turning into. "That looks like...Sonic?"

The purple figure surely looked like Sonic. It had every characteristic of the hedgehog, except it's quills were more sharper and longer. It had bright, yellow dots for it's eyes.

The dark figure looked at them. It stared menacingly at Donkey Kong. Suddenly, it started to float above the ground. It looked like it was going to charge at them.

"Go! Run!" Donkey Kong commanded. Amy hesitated at first, but soon ran away from the ape, into the jungle.

The dark figure soon flew at the defending Kong. The ape threw a punch at it, but it missed. He ended up getting slammed into the ground.

OOF!

Donkey Kong landed on the ground, making a huge thud. The ape didn't move. Amy looked back, shocked at what happened. The dark figure saw her, and soon rushed to her. Amy tried to run, but she was caught by the figure. It grabbed her by both arms, and carried her into the air.

"Let go of me!" she demanded. The dark figure didn't listen. It gave out a cruel, high-pitched laugh.

"Let go of her!" someone shouted. Amy looked around her, seeing who it was. She looked to her right. To her amazement, she saw a certain, blue hedgehog, hands crossed in front of his body. "Sonic!"

The blue hedgehog was standing on a lone rock. He stepped forward. "Let go of her, now!" Footsteps followed to where Sonic was. There, came two plumbers, a green dinosaur and a familiar fox who was riding on it.

_"Tails!"_ Amy shouted.

Tails saw Amy, captive in the dark figures grasp. "Amy! Are you okay? Who is that?"

Mario inspected the dark figure. "That looks like Sonic!" The dark figure gave a stare to Sonic. Then quickly floated towards the canyon.

"Hey! Come back!" demanded Sonic. He chased after him, with the others right behind him.

The dark figure floated right above the canyon. The group soon caught up, but saw what was at the bottom of the canyon.

"Whoa! I don't want to fall down there!" Yoshi commented. He stood away from the edge of the canyon.

"Yoshi!" called out Luigi. "Use your tongue to swallow that dark figure thing that has Amy!"

The green dinosaur nodded. He spat his tongue towards the floating dark figure. It caught onto the dark figure's left foot. It tried to shake off Yoshi's tongue.

"LET GO OF ME!" yelled out the dark figure. "OR I'LL DROP THE GIRL!" He held out Amy in front of him.

Yoshi hesitated for a moment. He looked at his friends. They all nodded. Reluctantly, Yoshi let go. His tongue quickly went back into his mouth.

The dark figure gave them a taunting laugh, then looked at Mario and Sonic. "YOU TWO HAVE CAUSED US TROUBLE IN THE PAST! NOW YOU'LL SOON PAY!"

Mario and Sonic were shocked. "How do you know our names?" demanded the blue hedgehog.

The dark figure ignored his comment, soon flying away. Suddenly...

KONK!"

"OWW!" yelled out the dark figure. It was hit by a small coconut, almost ldropping Amy. It looked at the direction from where it came from. Surprisingly, there was a big ape, walking towards the group of heroes.

"You better come down here and fight like a monkey!" the ape said, angrily. He had his battle face on him.

Mario recognized the ape. "Donkey Kong? What are you doing here?"

"I was helping that little girl over there." explained Donkey Kong. "But that dark figure holding onto her got a cheap shot on me!"

"YOU FOOL!" said the dark figure. "THAT CLEARLY WASN'T A CHEAP SHOT WHEN YOU'D KNOW IT WAS GOING TO HIT YOU!"

Donkey Kong stomped on the ground. "You want to say that up close!"

The dark figure laughed. "YOU SEEM TO BE EASILY ANGERED!" It looked at the group of heroes. "IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THIS GIRL, THEN COME TO THE MOUNTAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE JUNGLE!" The dark figure floated away.

Amy was still in it's grasp. She struggled to get out of the dark figures grip, but it was no use. " Help! Soooooniiicc!"

"Don't worry, Amy! We'll rescue you!" assured Sonic.

The group watched as the dark figure floated away. It flew towards a mountian in the middle of the jungle.

_You won't get away with this..._

..

..

_To Be continued...

* * *

_

_Looks like Amy's in trouble! Will Sonic, Mario and their friends be able to rescue her? And what could that dark figure be? Stay tuned!_

_**Author Notes: Another chapter done! Finally, I get to introduce Amy and Donkey Kong in the story! It kind of seems cool to me, how the ape helps out the girl from another world, in the jungle. The beginning parts kind of feel "rushed" to me. I don't know why. Oh well. Hopefully, you guys like this chapter! The next two chapters will be up next week!**_

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	9. Rescuing Amy!

_** Chapter 9: Rescuing Amy!**_

**_Kongo Jungle..._**

_We've got to save Amy!_

Sonic was running through Kongo Jungle, with the others right behind him. They were heading towards the mountain the middle of the jungle, where the mysterious, dark figure took Amy.

_Who is that dark figure anyway?_ thought Sonic. _And why does he look like me?_

Sonic skidded to a stop. He was at the foot of the mountain. Yoshi and Tails finally caught up to him. Mario, Luigi and Donkey Kong soon followed.

"_Wow...Sonic..._" panted Luigi. "You were...running so fast..." before he could finish the sentence, the green plumber fell back, exhausted. Mario had to help him back to his feet.

"Is this the mountain?" Tails asked. "The one where the dark figure of Sonic took Amy to?"

"This is it." assured Donkey Kong. "Its the only mountain with the huge cave in it."

The mountain was really big. It was a deep-gray color. It was entirely made up of stone. Halfway up the mountain, was a cave entrance. There was a rocky pathway that lead up to it.

"We've got to get up there!" said Sonic, pointing to the cave entrance.

"It shouldn't be so hard." commented Mario. "The rocky pathway doesn't seem hard to climb, and my jumping skills should make it a whole lot easier!"

"Don't worry, Yoshi! I'll fly us up there!" said Tails. The dinosaur was glad he didn't have to do any work.

"Alright! Let's-a go!" exclaimed Luigi. Mario was the first to jump onto the mountain. He was followed by his brother, then Sonic. Tails flew up the mountain, using his two-tails as propellers. He carried Yoshi, who enjoyed the ride. Donkey Kong resorted to using his two arms to climb the mountain, saying he could use the exercise.

They were almost to the cave entrance, when a dark shroud of blue mist appeared in front of it. It formed into the shape of Sonic. It saw the group climbing the mountain. The dark figure laughed with it's high-pitched voice. "Hahaha! All of you better hurry up, before something _bad _happens to the girl!" taunted the dark figure.

Sonic saw the dark figure. "Something had better not have happened to her!"

The dark figure turned it's back around them, soon disappearing in another shroud of mist. Mario was somehow bothered by the dark figure.

_Why does that thing remind me of something?_

The gang soon reached the cave entrance. Luigi stared into the cave. It was pitch-black inside.

"W-Wow!" said Luigi, nervously. "It sure is dark in there! Maybe I should wait outside."

Mario shook his head. "Sorry Luigi, but you have to come with us. We could use your help to rescue Sonic's friend."

Luigi pointed to the cave with both hands. "But look! You can barely see anything in there! I didn't bring my flashlight! What if we get lost inside the cave?"

Yoshi took a look inside the cave, Tails was still sitting on his saddle. He still couldn't walk with his bad leg.

"Luigi is right." Tails said. "There's no way we can go into the cave without a light. It would be too dangerous."

"Still, we have to save Amy." Sonic pointed out. "We've got to find a way to see in the cave."

The group thought for a moment. They had to find a way to see in the cave. Then, Sonic remembered.

"Hey, wait!" He reached into his pocket, pulling out a transparent block that had eyes on it. "We could use this!"

Mario was astonished. "_Mamammia!_ A Glow Block! Sonic! How did you get it?"

Sonic shrugged. "I got it while I was in the underground." He walked into the dark cave. He shook the Glow Block, causing a bright light to come out of it. It illuminated the cave. They could see what was nearby them in the cave.

Yoshi hopped up and down. "Yay! We can see in the cave now!"

Mario walked up to Sonic. "Come on! Let's- a go!"

Sonic nodded. Since he had the light, he went in first. Mario followed right behind him. His brother followed closely behind him. Yoshi , Tails and Donkey Kong were at the back.

The cave was a bit narrow. Various rocks and boulders were scattered around the area. The cave made your voice echo. You could hear the sound of water dripping every few seconds. It was _just_ like any normal cave.

"This place _sure_ gives me the creeps!" Luigi commented. He was carefully looking around him, hoping nothing would pop out on him.

"Oh, come on Luigi! We have plenty of light with us! There's no way any _Boos_ would come near us." Mario comforted.

Tails thought for a moment. "You must be easily frightened by the dark, Luigi. But don't worry. Everyone has their fears." He pointed to himself. "Like me. I'm really scared of thunder and lightning."

Luigi looked at the fox. "Really?" Tails nodded back. "Wow. It must be hard when you'd have to sleep during a thunderstorm."

"You don't even know! I just hate the way lightning makes that crashing noise when you least expect it."

The two talked for awhile, telling about what their fears were, and why they were scared of it.

A few minutes passed, and the gang were still walking in the cave. Yoshi sighed.

"How long until we find Amy?"

"She's around here somewhere." answered Sonic. "I just know it."

Luigi was getting used to the dark. He was walking to the left of his brother. Suddenly...

"_WAAAAAHHH!_"

The green plumber fell down. Apparently, he wasn't watching where he was going, and took a step too far to the left, causing him to slide down a steep slope, hidden from the Glow Blocks light.

"Luigi!" shouted Mario. He looked to where Luigi was. He was no where there. The gang looked to see where he fell.

To everyone's surprise, Luigi had already reached the bottom of the slope. The slope was only a few feet high.

"_Oww.._." Luigi slowly got up, rubbing his lower back. He looked up from the slope. He could see the light from the Glow Block. "Don't worry guys! I'm okay!" He looked around him. opposite from the slope, there was an entryway. light was coming out from it. "Hey guys! Come down here! I think I've found something!"

The gang was confused. Carefully, one by one, they each slid down the slope. Sonic was the last one down.

"What is it, Luigi?" asked Mario. He saw his brother looking at the entryway.

"Wow! Another cave!" exclaimed Yoshi. He was the first to enter it.

"Wait, Yoshi! It could be dangerous ahead!" Tails warned. He held onto the dinosaurs saddle. The gang followed them.

The entryway lead to another part of the cavern. It was a huge, wide area of the cave, light came from through the various cracks on the roof area. It could make a bigger echo sound. The gang was surprised from the secret area they've found.

"Wow, this place is huge!" exclaimed Sonic. He put the Glow Block back. They explored the area for a bit.

Yoshi noticed something near the top of the cave area. He pointed to it. "Hey! What's that?" The gang looked up, noticing the object. It looked like a wooden cage.

"Tails! Do you think you could check what's up there?" asked Sonic.

The fox nodded. "Alright, Sonic!" His two-tails started to propel. He got off Yoshi's saddle and flew up to the wooden cage. He looked inside.

"Sonic! I've found Amy!"

Everyone was surprised.

"Is she okay, Tails" asked Sonic.

Tails looked again. Amy was laying on her back. Her eyes were closed. "No. She looks like she's unconcsious."

Suddenly, a blue, paint-like goop was shot at Tails. The foxflew back and started to fall. Sonic quickly ran and caught him before he hit the ground. He helped him up.

"Are you okay Tails?"

Tails looked at himself . "I'm okay Sonic..." He looked at himself. "Whoa, what's this stuff on me?" He was covered in dark-green goop. He wiped it all off him.

"Hahaha!" someone laughed.

Everyone looked around. A dark shroud of mist appeared in the middle of the cave area. It formed into the figure of Sonic. This time, it was carrying a large paintbrush.

Mario wide-eyed at the sight.

_That paintbrush! _

The dark figure pointed the paintbrush at Sonic and Tails. "If you want to save the girl, you'll have to go through me!"

Sonic crossed his arms. "_Come on!_ There's six of us and only one of you! It wouldn't be a fair fight!"

The dark figure smirked. It gave a quick stare at Donkey Kong. Suddenly, the dark figure jumped in the air, doing a flip. Another shroud of mist covered it while mid-air. Once it landed, it looked like a dark version of Donkey Kong! Everyone gasped.

"What the, is that me?" shouted Donkey Kong. It inspected the copy of himself. It looked exactly like him, right down to the tie. The dark figure gave an evil grin. It held up the paintbrush. The tip of the paintbrush gave a green glow. The dark figure soon started to glow green too. Without warning, it started to grow in size. It grew four times it was before!

"Th-th-that's a b-b-big monkey!" yelled Luigi. He quickly ran behind the closest boulder near him.

Donkey Kong gave a determined look. "You may look like me, and you may be taller than me, but it doesn't mean you're stronger than me!"

Suddenly, the ape ran towards the dark figure, one of his fists high in the air, he threw a punch towards it, but the dark figure dodged to the left. It quickly threw a strong punch on Donkey Kong's back. The ape slammed into the ground with a large thud!

"Donkey Kong!" yelled Yoshi.

The ape tried to get up, but the dark figure put a foot on his back. "Anyone else want a shot at m?" challenged the dark figure.

Sonic smirked. He quickly carried Tails back onto Yoshi's saddle. "This might be fun!" He did a few quick leg stretches.

He ran up to the dark figure. It threw a punch at the speeding hedgehog, but he dodged it with ease. Sonic jumped into the air and did a Homing Attack. It hit the dark figure, making it flinch.

"Alright, Sonic!" cheered Tails.

Sonic landed. He jumped into the air again and did another Homing Attack. It hit the dark figure on the head, making it furious.

"Grr...you'll pay for this, hedgehog!" Sonic landed on the ground, preparing for another Homing Attack, when the dark figure quickly threw a punch at him. It threw Sonic into a cave wall, making a hole. He landed on the ground, holding his chest from the pain.

"Hahaha! From what I was told about, you aren't that fast!" the dark figure started to walk up to Sonic, who was struggling to get up.

"Oh no! Looks like Sonic needs our help!" said Yoshi. "Let's go Tails!" He ran up to the dark figure.

Tails was a bit hesitant about it. "Uh, are you sure, Yoshi?"

Yoshi nodded. "I have a plan!" he told his plan to Tails, who agreed on it. The fox quickly flew up, carrying Yoshi with him. He hovered above the dark figure, who was a few feet away from Sonic. He let go of Yoshi. The dinosaur quickly flipped in the air and aimed a Ground Pound onto the dark figure. It was a direct hit on the head. Yoshi bounced off his head and landed in front of Sonic. The dark figure was dazed from the attack, and fell backwards, causing a large thud.

"That was a pretty good butt stomp, Yoshi!" Sonic complimented. He slowly got up, still recovering from the punch.

"That was great!" exclaimed Tails. He flew back down to the two.

Mario walked up to Donkey Kong, who was rubbing on his back. "Are you okay, DK?"

The ape nodded. "I've had worse." he got up, noticing the dark figure on the ground. "Ha! Looks like he got what he deserved!"

The dark figure slowly got up. "Grr! I'm not finished yet!" he slowly raised his arms up and slammed them into the ground. It caused a few shockwaves to come out. It was so quick, no one saw it coming. It hit everyone, causing them to fall back and flinch. Fortunatly for Luigi, the shockwave didn't reach him, only hitting the boulder he was hiding behind. The huge rock crumbled into pieces from the attack. One of the pieces hit him on the head.

"Oww!" shouted Luigi. He looked to see what hit him. It was a rock of course, bit it looked different. Sort of like a mushroom shape.

"What the-" he picked up the rock. He rocognized the power up.

"The Rock Mushroom!"He looked to see where his brother was. He was on the ground, rubbing his head from the shockwave. "Mario! Catch!" Luigi threw the Rock Mushroom to his brother. Mario looked back, seeing the power up get thrown at him. He quickly got up and caught the Rock Mushroom. Something amazing happened. Mario's clothes started to change. His red sweater and trademark hat turned into a brown color, and suddenly changed into rock form.

He was now Rock Mario!

The plumber gave a thumb-up to his brother. "Thanks Luigi!" He turned back to the dark figure, who looked like he was about to attack Sonic, Tails and Yoshi, who were still lying on the ground from the shockwave. "Hey big guy! Look over here!"

The dark figure looked. Mario suddenly jumped into the air and did a flip. He turned into a huge boulder and rolled towards the dark figure. The dark figure was surprised, and tried to run from the rolling boulder. Mario quickly caught up to him and plowed into the dark figure, causing it to fly from the force. The dark figure sailed through the air, crashing into one of the cave walls. It made a loud thud. The dark figure suddenly turned into a shroud of mist. It turned back into the form of Sonic. It fell back onto the ground.

Mario changed back from his boulder form. Everyone was astonished.

"Wow Mario! That was amazing!" exclaimed Sonic. He, Tails and Yoshi walked up to him, congratulating him.

"Haha! That's my brother!" shouted Luigi. He was with Donkey Kong. They each exchanged high-fives.

The dark figure got up, not happy from what happened. He threw a punch to the ground. "Grr...you won't get away with this!" Suddenly, the dark figure dissapeared in a shroud of mist.

Sonic grinned. "Looks like he gave up." He looked up to the wooden cage. "Come on, we still have to get Amy."

The others nodded. Tails carried Yoshi up to the cage. Amy was still asleep.

"Psst! Amy!" Tails yelled. The pink hedgehog didn't wake up.

"Here, let me try." The fox carried Yoshi to the cage bars. The dinosaur held onto them so he wouldn't fall off. Yoshi quickly swatted his tongue onto Amy's face. The pink hedgehog reacted. She woke up.

"Ow..." She put a hand on her forehead. She sat up, looking around, seeing Tails and Yoshi outside the cage. "Where am I?"

"Amy! You're okay!" Tails exclaimed. He explained to her what had happened.

She stood up. "Wow! So you guys defeated that dark figure that looked like Sonic?" she looked at the cage. "So, can you get me out of here then?"

Tails nodded. He slowly flew back, then flew towards the wooden cage, causing it to sway back and forth. Amy fell back, while Yoshi tightly kept his grip on the bars.

"Tails! I don't think that will work!" complained Yoshi.

Tails sweat dropped. "Maybe I should have thought through this more."

"_Yo Tails!_ Is there something wrong?" called out Sonic. Amy looked down, seeing the blue hedgehog and plumber side by side.

"Sonic! I knew you'd come to save me!"

Sonic sighed. "_Yeah_. That's what I'm here for."Mario saw him smile nervously.

"Maybe I can help!" shouted Mario. He took out his wooden hammer Luigi gave him and tossed it to Yoshi. The dinosaur caught it.

"Ohh, a hammer" Yoshi started to chew on it. Tails grabbed the hammer out of his hands.

"Yoshi! This hammer isn't for eating." the fox flew in front of the wooden cage and smashed the bars with ease.

Unfortunately, the force was so strong, the whole cage broke apart, causing Yoshi and Amy to fall. They both screamed. Donkey Kong, seeing this, quickly jumped into the air and caught them both. He landed on the ground, putting them back down. Everyone ran to check on them.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Luigi. They both nodded.

Everyone looked at Tails, who was still holding the hammer. "Hehe...I guess I don't know my own strength." He gave the hammer back to Mario.

Sonic patted his friends head. "Don't worry, pal! Things like that happen to everyone!"

Tails smiled. "Thanks Sonic."

Unexpectedly, Amy gave a hug to Sonic. "Umm...Amy!" said Sonic. "Not right now!"

"Sonic! I was worried I wasn't going to see you again!" exclaimed Amy. She was still holding on to Sonic.

Luigi chuckled. "Wow Sonic! You never told me that you two were this _close_!"

Sonic gave the green plumber a serious look.

"Well, Sonic." Mario started. "Didn't I tell you? We would save her, and we did!"

Sonic smiled. "Yeah. Never should have doubted you!" He looked back at Amy, who was smiling at him.

"Sonic the Hedgehog. We're you worried about me?" She put a hand to her hip. Sonic sweat dropped.

"Uh...come on! Anyone would be worried if their friend was in trouble!" Sonic crossed his arms.

Yoshi yawned. "Come on! Can we get back to the castle now? I'm getting tired and hungry!"

Everyone nodded. "Alright you guys. I'll be heading back to my tree house." Donkey Kong explained. "You should call me if something comes up!" The ape left the cave.

The group of heroes headed out of the cave. The went back to the castle for a well-deserved rest.

_Finally! I've found my friends safe and sound! Now how do we get back home?_

..

..

_To be continued...

* * *

_

_Sonic and his friends are finally back together! But who was that dark-figure that Mario recognized? How will Sonic and his friends get back to their world? Stay tuned!_

_**Author Notes: Another chapter done! It's a pretty long chapter if you ask me. There was lots of action, character development, all that kind of stuff. If you've played Super Mario Sunshine, you may know what that darkfigure may be! But how did it come back? I'm not spoiling it! Hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks for the support! Next chapter will be up sometime this week!  
**_

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They belong to Nintendo and Sega.  
**


	10. How Do We Get Home?

**_Chapter 10: How Do We Get Home? _**

**_Princess Peach's Castle, Foyer Area..._**

"So, that _Donkey Kong_ guy helped you out in the jungle?"

The gang were resting up in the princess' castle. Peach was also with them. They were sitting on the stairway, listening to Amy's story.

"Yeah!" Amy answered to Sonic's question. "He suddenly appeared and caught me when I fell off the bridge."

"And then that dark figure attacked you both and captured you." Sonic said "It all makes sense now."

"Then you guys came and rescued me." Amy finished. "And I really appreciate it."

"Hehe! That's what we heroes do!" exclaimed Luigi. He jumped off the stairway, doing a Superman pose.

Mario was sitting at the top of the stairs. He was thinking about something. Sonic was just a few stairs below him. He looked up at him, seeing the plumbers expression. "Is there something wrong, Mario?"

The plumber didn't look back. "That dark figure at Kongo Jungle. I think I've seen it before." Everyone looked at him, surprised of what he said.

"You've seen that figure before?" asked Tails. He was still sitting on Yoshi's saddle.

Mario nodded. "I recognized him when he took out that paint brush. I think it was Bowser Jr."

"Bowser Jr?" said Sonic in amazement. "You mean that turtle-kid back at Yoshi's Island?"

The plumber nodded back. "Yes. Bowser Jr also used that paint brush when I went on vacation with Princess Peach and the Toads."

"I remember now." said Peach. "Back at Delfino Island. That was a long time ago."

Luigi whispered to Tails and Yoshi. "I wouldn't know, since I was never invited..."

"Anyway. That paint brush he has could do a whole bunch of tricks." Mario explained. "He could shoot out loads of goop from the tip of it and teleport to anywhere he'd want by painting on a surface and jumping into the goop. He could also use the paint brush to transform into anything. He even turned into a shadow version of me!"

"Then it must be him." assumed Sonic. "That turtle sure knows how to do evil things!"

"Pretty much because he is Bowser's son." Luigi pointed out.

"Bowser?" Amy said. "Who is Bowser?"

"Eh, just you're average super evil villain that wants take over the Mushroom Kingdom." answered Luigi.

"We think that Eggman teamed up with him." explained Sonic. "That could really cause problems for us."

Amy nodded. "That seems really bad."

GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!

Everyone looked around, finding where the sound came from.

Yoshi sweat dropped. "Oops, sorry!" He put a hand to his head. "I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

"Now that you mention it, I'm also pretty hungry." said Luigi.

"Don't worry. I'll get the kitchen staff to make us a grand lunch." Peach said. She headed off into the castle kitchen.

Tails thought for a moment. "Well, now that me, Sonic and Amy are back together again, how are we going to get back to our world?"

"Oh, yeah. I kind of forgot you guys were from _another_ dimension." Luigi commented.

The group thought for a moment.

"_Gee_, if only we had a Chaos Emerald." said Sonic. "Then we might be able to teleport back to our dimension"

"A _Chaos Emerald?_" Yoshi was confused "What's that?"

Tails started to explain. "A Chaos Emerald is a jewel that contains unlimited power. It's able to unleash it's power to anyone who possesses it."

"Sounds really serious." commented Luigi. "So what can you do with these powered up jewel?"

"Well, one thing you can do is to teleport far distances."

"That's called Chaos Control!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Chaos Control can also be used to stop time." Tails further explained.

"Wow! That sounds pretty awesome!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"It gets even better!" Tails started. "If someone collects all of the seven Chaos Emeralds, then they can transform into their super form! They'll be super strong, super quick and invincible!"

"Amazing..." said Mario. He was really interested about the Chaos Emeralds. "You know, with unlimited power like that, I bet you could defeat anyone!"

The fox nodded. "But still, we don't have a way to get back home..."

"You know..." Luigi started. "I have a friend who's an inventor. I bet he could make machine or something that can teleport you guys back to your dimension!"

"An inventor?" Amy wondered. "Who?"

"His name is Professor E. Gadd. He made lots of inventions for me and Mario to use. We can go to his laboratory tomorrow and see if he can help you guys."

"Okay then." Sonic stood up. "Tomorrow, we're gonna see this professor guy!"

Everyone agreed. The princess called them from the kitchen, saying their dinner was almost cooked. The gang headed for the dining room, prepared for their meal...

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Laboratory... _**

The Koopa king opened the door to his laboratory. It made a large, creaking sound. Inside, the mad scientist was doing his finishing touchs on his new machine.

"So, what did you call me for?" demanded Bowser. "Are you done with the machine now?"

Eggman was in front of the machine, wiping some dust off it. "Indeed I am." he stepped to the side. "I show to you, the _Egg Cannon!_"

Bowser inspected the machine carefully. It wasn't too big in size. The machine rode on two large, mechanical wheels at the side. At the top was the cockpit area where the rider rode. At the sides of the cockpit, where two small cannons. In the front of the machine, below the cockpit, was a larger machine that took most of the front area.

"Umm...it looks like you just put a bunch of cannons on a few wheels!" Bowser pointed out. "What is it supposed to do, anyway?"

"Well, Koopa king," Eggman started. "This machine is able to run at fast speeds with the two wheels." He pointed at the two small cannons. "Those cannons will be able to shoot out those bomb things I found in the weapons area."

"You mean the Bob-Ombs." corrected Bowser.

"Yes. Anyway, I've programmed the cannons to shoot the bombs at unreachable speeds, so not even Sonic could dodge them in time!"

Bowser thought for a moment. "Pretty good idea. Now what does the big cannon do?"

"The large cannon will be able to shoot that big bullet thing that I also found in the weapons area."

"You mean the Banzai Bill." Bowser corrected again. "I would've placed a _laser gun_ in that area, but I guess that works as well." He crossed his arms, impressed by the doctor's work. "I should say, you did a pretty good job with the machine you made, Eggman."

Eggman was proud of himself. "Why thank you, Bowser. Now that I'm finished the machine, when shall we attack our annoying enemies?"

"Tomorrow." answered Bowser. He yawned. "I need to take a nap. And besides, it's already late in the evening. I'm more in my fighting spirit during the day time."

The doctor was surprised. "Oh. Well, if you say so."

Suddenly, Bowser Jr walked in, carrying his paint brush. "Hey, Papa!"

Bowser noticed his son. "Hello, son." He saw the paint brush in his hand. "What are you doing with your paint brush?"

Junior shrugged. "Oh nothing. Just playing around with it." He saw the machine Eggman made. "Cool! A new machine! Can I ride it?"

"No." Bowser answered. "It's going to be used for our plan tomorrow. I don't want it to be already wrecked before we even get to use it."

Junior groaned. "Fine..." He ran out the laboratory.

Eggman walked up to Bowser. "So what do we do now?"

The Koopa king scratched his head. "Why don't we talk about our how we'll plan our attack while my minions cook is some dinner"

"Well, now that you mention it, I am getting hungry."

The two villains headed out the laboratory, ready to eat and prepare for tomorrows attack...

* * *

**_Princess Peach's Castle, Dining Room... _**

"Yummy! That dinner was really good!" complimented Yoshi. He licked his plate clean.

The group was already done eating their food. Now that they were already done finding Sonic's friends, they didn't really have anything to do.

"_So_, now what?" said Luigi.

"I don't know." Tails replied. He was sitting across Luigi.

Sonic sat beside Tails. He looked at the fox's leg. "Is your leg feeling any better, Tails?"

The fox nodded. "Yeah, it is! I think I'll be able to walk by tomorrow!"

Yoshi sighed. "Well, looks like you won't be riding on me anymore..."

"Aww. Don't be sad, Yoshi!" Tails comforted. "I'll ride on you sometimes!"

The dinosaur cheered up. "You will?" The fox nodded back. "Thanks Tails! You're a good friend!"

Amy smiled. She was sitting beside Sonic. "Those two really seem nice to each other."

"Well, it was Yoshi who found Tails in the forest." Sonic told. He thought for a moment. "I wonder what the others are doing back home."

"I bet they're okay." Amy comforted. "I mean, Eggman is also in this world too, right? They shouldn't be having any trouble back home."

"Yeah. I know." Sonic remembered. "I'm just hoping they aren't worrying about what happened to us."

"I think it's getting late." Princess Peach said. "I think you should be heading home now, Mario."

Mario nodded. "Thank you for the dinner, princess." He motioned Luigi that they were going.

Luigi sat up. "Come on, Yoshi! You can sleepover at our house!" Yoshi jumped out of his chair and headed for the dining room exit. Luigi followed after him.

Mario said goodbye to Sonic and his friends. "Okay, Sonic. See you guys tomorrow!" Sonic and his friends waved back as the plumber closed the door behind him.

Peach sat up from her chair. "Come on now, I'll show you to your rooms."

Sonic and his friends followed the princess out of the dining room. She lead them through a hallway, went to the upstairs, and went into another door, leading to a hallway full of doors. She went for the last door on the left side and opened it.

The princess flicked the light switch open. There, at the left side of the room, were two king sized beds beside each other, each with a light-blue bedsheet. Opposite to them was a wooden drawer with a mirror attached at the top. At the opposite of the doorway was a sliding, glass door that lead to a balcony that showed a beautiful view of the lake. The room also had a personal bathroom with a high-class sink, shower and bathtub.

"This is your room, Sonic and Tails." Peach showed.

They all entered the room. Tails jumped onto the left bed. "Ahhh...this bed is so comfy!" He hugged onto one of the pillows.

"Wow! This bedroom looks it would be from a five-star hotel!" complimented Amy. She looked around the room.

"There is also another room that's right across the hall." Peach pointed out. "That one will be for you, Amy."

Amy looked to the princess. "Really?" Peach nodded and led her to the bedroom across the hall. The hedgehog shouted in glee when she saw the bedroom, and it was all for herself.

"Guess Amy likes her bedroom." said Sonic. He sat onto the bed next to Tails'. He yawned. "Well, we better get some rest tomorrow."

Tails whined. "Aww, but I'm not tired..."

Sonic layed on his bed and relaxed. "Tomorrow is when we'll see that inventor, Tails. I bet he has some interesting inventions for you to check out!"

Tails sat up. "Are you sure? If he does, then I'd better sleep right now so I won't get tired when we head to the professers lab!" The fox quickly pulled the blanket over him. Sonic smiled.

_Typical Tails._ Sonic thought _He's so obsessed with machines. It's the one thing he's good at too, but that's something I like about him._

The hedgehog looked out the balcony window. He saw the town lake sparkle outside right under the starry moonlit sky.

_Wow. The view really looks great outside_. He got out of his bed and walked to the bedrooms light switch and closed it. The light from outside lit the room, making it feel really relaxing. He walked to the balcony's sliding doors and opened them. He walked out to the balcony railings and gazed at the lake. He could see the mountains of the Mushroom Plains off at the distance. To the right of him, he could see the buildings of Toad Town. Some of them still had light coming from the windows.

"Sonic?" He looked behind him, thinking Tails was calling him. But to his surprise, it was Amy who was at the door.

"Oh, Amy." Sonic started. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"I just wanted to check up on you." Amy replied. "Is something on your mind, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog shrugged. "It's nothing. I'm just checking out the view. Come check."

Amy walked to the balcony area. "Wow. It sure is beautiful. My bedroom doesn't have window to look outside."

The two hedgehogs just gazed at the view for awhile. It was such a great view, even you would want to just stare out and enjoy it.

"Well, I better get back to my bedroom." said Amy. She started to head to the door, then stopped. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks again for rescuing me back at the jungle." She smiled to him and walked back to her room.

_Hmm, something seems a little different about her..._ Sonic grinned, then looked back at the lake, going through a train of thoughts.

_I hope we'll be able to get home..._

..

..

_To be continued...

* * *

_

_Will Sonic and his friends be able to get home? What will Bowser and Eggman plan? Stay tuned!_

_**Author Notes: Sorry for a long wait! I was really busy and couldn't post the chapter at the usual time! Well, you know what they say, better late than never! This chapter took a break from all the action and focused more on the character development. You could say that "Sonic's Friend Search" part is finally complete. There's a LOT more story coming your way! Hope you enjoy and thanks for the support! Also, I'm finally done the first ten chapters of the story! Hooray!**_

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property to Nintendo and Sega.**


	11. Meeting The Gadd!

_**Chapter 11: Meeting The Gadd!**_

**_Mario Bros. House..._**

It was peaceful morning near the Mario Bros' house. The house was located near the edge of a small, forested area in the Mushroom Plains, not too far from Toad Town.

The house was pretty big. It had a large, red roof. There was a patio at the back door area. The house was made up of wooden walls, painted a white-color. A small wind turbine, shaped like a star, was on top of the house. What made the house stand out was the initials 'M' and 'L' engraved in front of the house, right above the front door Right now, two plumbers and a dinosaur were getting ready to head to the princess' castle.

"Come on! _Let's go!_" exclaimed Yoshi. He rushed out of the door and did a flutter jump above the front door steps.

Luigi followed him outside. "Yoshi! Calm down! We still have to wait for Mario."

The red plumber walked outside, locking the door behind him. "Sorry guys! I had to find my hat!" he had his trademark hat in his hand and put it on, positioning it the way he always did.

Yoshi started to hop up and down. "So, where are we headed?"

"We're going to Toad Town first, to pick up Sonic and his friends." Luigi started to explain. "Then we'll head to the professor's lab to see if he has a machine to teleport them back to their world."

"Teleport them back to their _world_?" Yoshi said. He was saddened at the thought of his friends going back to their world.

_But we just met... _

"Come on, you two." led Mario. He started walking to Toad Town. "I'm-a bet Sonic and his friends are waiting right now!"

Luigi and Yoshi followed the plumber. They walked on the small path leading to the Toad Town Entrance Gate. They passed a few floating Question Blocks, Warp Pipes and a group of passing Goombas. It took them a good ten minutes to get there.

When they got there, two Toad guards were in front of the town's entrance. "Hey there, Mario Bros!" exclaimed one of the Toad guards. He was wearing the traditional guard uniform and had a small spear for defending himself. "What can I do for ya?"

"Can we enter the town?" Mario asked. "We're here to pick up Sonic an his friends at the castle."

"Oh! You mean that blue hedgehog?" the other Toad guard asked. "The ones from the '_other_' world?"

Luigi nodded. "Yep! We're going to see Professor E. Gadd to see if he has some sort of _wacky_ invention to bring them back to their world!"

"Sounds a bit complicated to me." said the Toad guard. "But hey, anything to help a few heroes!" The Toad guards opened the gates to Toad Town. The Mario Bros and Yoshi thanked them. They entered the town. They walked down the path near the lake. They passed through the town square, seeing many Toad civilians walking about. They took a right turn and took another path, leading to the castle gates entrance. There, waiting for them, was a blue hedgehog doing a few quick leg stretches. A pink hedgehog and yellow fox were watching him.

Yoshi was the first to wave at them. "Hi guys!"

The fox noticed them. "Hey Yoshi!"

The blue hedgehog stopped stretching, and walked up to them "You guys were taking forever! I was just about to go get you myself."

Luigi crossed his arms. "Well excuse us for being _fashionably _late, but Yoshi wouldn't wake up back at our house, so we had to splash some water on him."

"In my defense, I was having a really good dream!" Yoshi backed up. "And it had fruit in it..."

The pink hedgehog and yellow fox walked up to them.

"So, where is this professors lab?" Amy asked.

"Yeah! I wanna see what inventions he made." Tails commented.

"Don't worry! His lab is not too far out of town." Luigi explained. "It's in this place called..." He suddenly froze, not moving a muscle. The group was confused.

"Uhh, Luigi!" Mario said. "Tell them where the lab is!"

The green plumber didn't move an inch. He had this terrified look on his face. He knew where the lab was. But that was the problem, for _him_.

"Th-the lab is in..." he paused for a moment. "B-Boo W-W-Woods!" He shuddered when he said it.

"_Boo Woods?_" repeated Sonic. He scratched his head. "What's that?"

"I-It's a small land of woods." Luigi explained. He remembered the memories. "B-but it's full of..." He shuddered. The gang was waiting for him to answer.

"Full of what?" Tails asked.

"G-GHOSTS!" He shouted. He crouched down in fetal position, remembering the events of what happened. Mario and Yoshi sweat dropped at the sight.

_That mansion...those ghosts..._

Sonic and his friends were perplexed. They all watched as he was rocking back and forth.

"_Ghosts?_ So what!" said Sonic. He crossed his arms. "No way something can be as scary as Eggman's bald head!"

"Well, these ghosts are smart." Mario started. "They're actually called Boos. They sneak behind unsuspecting people and attack by surprise. Whenever someone turns around to see them, they turn invisible."

"Well, it's daylight anyway." Amy pointed out. "I bet none of those Boos would come out during a time like this."

"Yeah, I know..." said Luigi in a nervous voice. "But, y-you don't know what I've been through..."

He started to explain his adventure. The time when he was told he won a mansion, but it was actually full of ghosts and Boos. He told them they had kidnapped Mario and he had to rescue him with the help of E. Gadd's inventions. Sonic and his friends were amazed.

"Ever since that day, I've been scared of Boos..." Luigi ended off

"Wow. That does seem a little scary..." Tails commented. "Going through a haunted mansion by yourself."

"Yeah! But you got to suck up ghosts with a vacuum!" Sonic exclaimed. "I bet that was fun."

"Come on, Luigi." comforted Mario. "That was a long time ago. I bet those Boos are scared of you as much as you're scared of them."

"I doubt!" said Luigi. "Those terrifying Boos still give me the creeps!"

Mario sighed. "But still, we have to help Sonic and his friends get back to their world. We can't do it without you."

Yoshi turned his back towards Luigi. "Come on! You can ride on me and _I'll_ defend you from any of those Boos!"

Luigi thought for a moment. "Fine..." He crawled on the ground and onto Yoshi's saddle.

"Alright, Luigi! That's the spirit." exclaimed Sonic. "Now come on! Let's head to Boo Woods!" He rushed to the town's exit. The group followed right behind him. Luigi was still reluctant.

_Those Boos better not be there!

* * *

_

_** Bowser's Castle, Throne Room...** _

"Alright! Is everyone ready?" shouted the Koopa king. He was standing in front of his throne. The throne room was packed full of Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Hammer Bros and other members of the Koop Troop. They were all causing a ruckus, chatting away and not paying any attention to their leader. Eggman was standing beside Bowser, observing the large amounts of minions in the room.

"My! Your minions are pretty loud!" yelled Eggman. He had to cover his ears, as the talking was getting louder.

Bowser cleared his throat and instantly gave a loud, ferocious roar. The Koop Troop instantly shut up. "Listen everyone. We have a big mission to carry on. Not only are the Mario Bros the ones we have to destroy, but we have this annoying hedgehog named Sonic to deal with too!"

"Don't underestimate him." Eggman explained. "He is able to run at really high speeds!"

One of the Goombas started to talk. "_Ha!_ I bet that guy runs so fast because he's just a _scared_ hedgehog!"

Laughter erupted from the room. Bowser stomped loudly. "Okay everyone! Focus! We start attacking right after noon. Does everyone remember the plan?" Various murmurs of agreement sprung up. "Now! Everybody rest until our attack on the Mushroom Kingdom! Let us succeed in our mission!"

The Koop Troop members shouted in enthusiasm. They soon left the throne room. The room was quiet.

"What an army to handle!" Eggman said. "Even my robots aren't that hard to command!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bowser walked down the throne steps. Eggman followed. "So, it the Egg Cannon ready for attack?"

The doctor nodded. "Preparations are done and over. It's good to go! We'll be ready once you are." They walked out of the throne room. "That reminds me, what will you be doing during the attack, Bowser?"

"I'm going to be backup" Bowser explained. "You and my army will be the main attack. You call me only if you get into real trouble."

"Fine by me. It should be easy, since I've created a powerful machine! It should be more than enough to defeat them all!"

"Make sure to leave Mario to me!" said Bowser. "I want to be the one to finish him!"

"No problem! I'll have my eye on Sonic!" Eggman said. The two villains walked to the laboratory room. There, they saw the Egg Cannon, waiting to be used.

"You should stock up on some ammo!" advised Bowser. "It'd be stupid if you ran out during battle."

Eggman patted on the machine. "No worries! I've put enough ammo for _two_ battles!"

Bowser nodded slowly. "Sure...whatever you say."

_This doctor better not screw up again!_

* * *

**_ Edge of Boo Woods..._**

The gang was now at the entrance of Boos Woods. It didn't look like any normal woods. The trees were creepy looking. They had no signs of leaves on them, and they looked dead. There was a small river the flowed through the woods, but there was a small amount of water in it. A large swamp was located near the middle. There was also a large hill in the woods, not too far from the gang. That was where E. Gadd's lab was.

"A-Are there any Boos around?" asked Luigi. He was covering his eyes with both hands. Yoshi saw what the green plumber was doing.

"Relax, Luigi. It's really bright right now and I don't see any Boos around!" the dinosaur comforted. Luigi removed his hands from his eyes and looked at the woods It was just as creepy from last time he was here, but with the daylight, it wasn't that bad to him.

"So, the professor's lab is somewhere in these woods." said Sonic. He saw the trail that entered the woods. "Let's start there."

Tails hovered into the woods first, using his tails. Yoshi followed right behind him, with Luigi holding onto his saddle. Sonic walked to the trail, Amy close behind him. Mario entered the woods last.

The woods was very quiet. You could only hear the flow of the river. It was pretty peaceful for a woods that was filled with ghosts. The gang walked through the woods for a few minutes.

"So, Luigi. Are you still scared of these woods?" Yoshi asked.

"Not really." answered Luigi. "I haven't seen a Boo yet, so I'm doing good."

Tails was getting tired from his hovering and landed on the ground. Not looking where he was landing, he accidently stepped on a twig. It made a loud, crack sound. It caught Luigi off-guard.

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" the plumber shouted. He was so surprised from the sound, he fell off Yoshi's saddle and instantly went into fetal position. He shouted so loudly, it even caught Sonic and Amy off guard.

"Woah! Luigi! You've gotta warn us when you do something like that!" Sonic told.

The plumber started to rock back and forth. Yoshi was annoyed by this. "That's enough, Luigi!" He walked up to him and bonked him with his nose. Luigi fell forward, rubbing the back of his head.

'Oww! Yoshi!" He complained. He got up, still rubbing his head.

"Well, you got scared from a twig!" complained Yoshi. He started to walk back on the trail. "I'm not carrying you anymore!"

"Oh, come on, Yoshi!" Luigi ran after him. "I need your _protection_!"

"Uhh, guys! Wait for me!" Tails shouted. He decided to chase after them.

"Mamammia!" Mario said. "What am I going to with my brother?"

"Just a question I have." Amy started. "Are you two twins or something? You two look like it."

"Well, yeah, you could say we're twins." Mario explained. "I was lucky to be the older brother!"

"Yeah, but he turned out to be taller than you!" Sonic pointed out. He thought it was funny how the older brother was smaller than the younger one. Mario gave him an annoyed look.

They heard a shout ahead. It sounded like Tails. "Hey, guys! We've found the professor's lab!"

"Come on! We should catch up to them!" Sonic said. The three ran to where Luigi, Yoshi and Tails were. They were in front of a small, metal garage. It looked normal.

"Wow! I don't remember the professor changing from a shack to something like this!" Luigi commented. He forgot all about his fear and stared at the garage.

"So, how do we get in?" Yoshi asked.

The fox walked up to the garage door. He knocked on it.

No answer.

He knocked on it again, this time, more louder.

No answer.

Impatient, he knocked on it using both hands. Unexpectedly, the garage door opened up while he was knocking. The door opened up like a flap and carried the fox with it. Tails quickly flew off it and landed beside Sonic. The garage door finished opening. The group looked in. The garage was empty. No invention in it. Nothing.

"Um, are you sure this is the place?" asked Sonic.

"This was where the professor's lab was." Luigi answered.

Without warning, the garage's metal floor started to shake. The middle part of the floor suddenly opened up into a square hole. An elevetor poppoed out of it. It opened, revealing a small, old man wearing a white lab coat and black pants. He had a pair of orange shoe on and spiral glasses.

Luigi recognized the man. "Professor Gadd!" He ran up to him.

"Why, yes! That is me!" replied the professor. He gave group an nod. Sonic and his friends were astonished by what the professor looked like.

"That's him?" said Sonic.

"Pretty much." Mario replied. He walked into the garage and greeted the professor.

"I was hopng he'd be more on the _tall_ side." Sonic whispered Tails.

The fox shrugged. "Great genius's all come in different sizes!"

Amy elbowed. Sonic. "Come on. Be polite! Let's go and say hello to him."

Sonic and his friends walked up to the professor. Luigi introduced them. "Oh, professor! This is Sonic, Tails and Amy!"

Tails greeted him first. "Hi there, professor!"

"Hello there, young Tails." E. Gadd greeted back. "So, you must be the ones who are from another dimension."

"Uh, yeah." answered Sonic. "How did you know?"

"Luigi just told me!"

Sonic nodded. "So, do you have any invention to teleport us back to our world?"

E. Gadd shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't."

"Oh, we'll we were hoping you'd have something." Amy sighed.

The professor looked at Amy. "My, my! What a beautiful lass!" He looked back to Sonic. "Are you two in some sort of, _relationship_?"

The group was shocked from what E. Gadd said. Yoshi and Luigi held in their laughter. Sonic went wide-eyed. Tails could feel his insecurity. Amy was also kind of surprised.

"Hahaha! No need to answer that!" E. Gadd answered. "Back to your question, I might have something that you could use." He walked into the elevator and motioned them to come in. The group entered, still in shock from what th professor said. The elevator door closed. The group felt the elevator move down. They waited a few moments. Suddenly, the doors of the elevator opened.

Everyone walked out. The first thing they saw were tons and tons of gadgets and inventions! They were in a room with a metal floor and brick wall. The inventions were lying around the room. Most of them were deactivated. The gang was amazed.

"Whoa! Look at all these machines!" exclaimed Tails. He walked over to one. It was an enlarged vacuum that anyone could drive in. "Things things look so amazing!"

"Don't mind him." said Sonic. "He's into tinkering, like you!"

E. Gadd nodded. "Now, come and follow."

He led the group past through the inventions. Tails was so amazed from them, all. He led them to a certain, big looking machine near the Mario Bros. recognized the machine.

"Hey! I remember this!" exclaimed Luigi.

The professor nodded again. "Yes! This is the Time Machine!"

The Time Machine was really big. It was painted yellow. It had a sort of complicated design. There was a large, clock-like thing in the front of the machine. It had two points coming from the top, with a light in between them.

"Pretty cool machine." Sonic complimented. "But, how is it going to help us get back home?"

"Well, this machine is used to travel through time." E. Gadd explained. "If I can make another machine like this, only this time, tweaking it up a bit, I could make a machine that could help people travel through worlds!"

The group was amazed. "Wow! You can do that?" Amy asked.

E. Gadd nodded. "Yes! But a machine like that would need some very powerful energy!"

"That's true, you know." said Luigi. "I remember that the Time Machine needed that Cobalt Star just to power it up!"

"Well, where are we going to get power like that?" Yoshi asked.

The professor started walking again. The gang were confused, but decided to follow. He led them to a door to the right side of the room. They entered it. They were in E. Gadd's workshop, where he makes the blueprints for his inventions. In the middle of the room was a table where he drew the machines designs. It had a small desk lamp, papers and pencils on it. To the left of it was a bookshelf, and to the right was a coffee maker on a table. It had coffee in it, since it was still morning. Right at the opposite of the door, was a big computer that took the whole side of the wall. E. Gadd booted it up. He searched through his hardrive and pulled out a moving image. It was a picture of a rotating star.

"What is that?" asked Tails, amazed at the image.

"This, is a Power Star!" explained E. Gadd. "It is a mystical artifact that has great power! It can grant a person with ultimate strength, energy and power."

"Kind of sounds like the Chaos Emeralds." Sonic pointed out.

Mario noticed the image. "Hey! I've collected a few of those on my adventures!"

"Is that how you're going to power up the machine you'll build?" Luigi asked.

The professor nodded. "Indeed. A machine like this will need the greatest power to work! Unfortunately, these Power Stars are not easy to find."

"Well, how do we find them then?" asked Amy.

E. Gadd explained. "Have you've seen a shooting star before in the night sky?" Everybody nodded. "Well, in this world, those are Power Stars. Rumor has it, one Power Star lands in the Mushroom World every night."

"I'm guessing, if we watch where the next shooting star falls to, we should go to where it lands and retrieve it?" Tails guessed.

E. Gadd nodded again. "Right you are! If you all are commited enough to do this, get me Power Stars and I will start building that machine!"

Sonic nodded. "So, are you guys up for it?"

Tails agreed. "I'm ready!"

"Don't worry, Sonic!" exclaimed Amy. "I'll be right with you!"

Yosh hopped up and down. "Yay! We're going to hunt for Power Stars!"

Mario walked to his brother. "So, bro. Are you in?"

Luigi thought for a moment. "Go on _another_ adventure to retrieve more Power Stars?" He shrugged. "Why not?"

So it was settled. The group was going on an adventure. An adventure to search for Power Stars!

"Jolly! I like the enthusiasm!" exclaimed E. Gadd. "I'll start the machine right away!"

But before anyone could move. The lights suddenly flickered on and off. Suddenly, the lights shut off. The gang was surrounded in pitch darkness!

"WAAAAAAAHHH! WHAT"S GOING ON?" Luigi screamed in horror. He went back into a fetal position.

Yoshi was surprised from the what happened, he ran around, not knowing where he was going and hit a wall. Amy grabbed tightly onto Sonic. Mario looked around him, trying to see where he was going. E. Gadd didn't move an inch. Tails hugged onto his tails. Everybody started to shout.

They heard something. Everyone became quiet. They listened to the sound.

It sounded like a small laugh.

_A lot of small laughs..._

_.._

_.._

_To be continued...

* * *

_

_What's happening in Professor E. Gadd's laboratory? Could Luigi face the danger of his fears? And what is Bowser and Eggman plans? Stay tuned!_

**_Author Notes:_ _Boy, am I tired! This is the longest chapter yet, and took a lot of thinking! I had to think of what the power source could be for the professor's "Dimension Machine" (not official name). Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, and thanks for the support! Next chapter will be up this week!_**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They both belong to Nintendo and Sega.**


	12. Boo Clan in the Lab!

**_Chapter 12: Boo Clan in the Lab! _**

**_E. Gadd's Garage, Workshop Room..._**

"WAAAAAAH! WHO CLOSED THE LIGHTS?" shouted Luigi.

The gang was in Professor E. Gadd's laboratory. Unfortunately for them, the lights closed on them, putting them in total darkness. This was not okay for Luigi.

"_Luigi!_ Calm down!" yelled Mario. He tried to see where he was, but couldn't without a light.

"Wow! It's really dark in here!" commented Tails. He held onto his tails tightly.

Yoshi was still dazed from colliding with the wall. "Ohhh...my head!"

The professor was really calm. "Don't worry, everyone! I'm sure it's just a short power outage! I just need to go to the breaker room and flip the switch on the generator to open the lights again."

"H-How are you going to get there with no light?" stuttered Luigi.

The group thought for a moment. Where were they going to get a light?

"I've got it!" exclaimed Sonic. He searched into his pocket, Amy still clinging on him. He took out the Glow Block he found awhile back and shook it. It illuminated the area near them with light. The group was relieved. "I knew it was a good idea keeping this!"

Amy looked at the lit up block. "What is that?"

"It's just a Glow Block." answered Sonic. "I found it in somewhere in the underground." He looked to Amy, who was still holding into him. "You can let go now."

The pink hedgehog let go of Sonic. "Oh, sorry."

Luigi slowly got up, still shaken from the lights closing. "Phew! Good thing you have that light, Sonic! Thanks!"

E. Gadd fixed his glasses. "Aah! That's better! Now I can see!"

Mario rubbed his eyes, getting used to the sudden change of light. "So, where is the breaker room, professor?"

"Not too far." explained E. Gadd. "We just have to go through a couple of rooms to get there."

"And how much is a couple of rooms?" Luigi asked.

The professor shrugged. "I'd say about five or six." "Five or six?" Luigi repeated. "That's alot to go through if you ask me!"

"Now come on! No diddly-daddlying." exclaimed E. Gadd. "Let's head onto the breaker room." The professor led the group. They exited the workshop and were now in the Inventions room. All of his gadgets and gizmos were llying around. They headed for the door at the other side when thy suddenly heard a small laugh.

_Hahahahaha..._

The laugh was really quick and high-pitched. It sounded like it was coming in the room they were in. The gang hesitated.

"What was that?" Tails asked. He was beside Yoshi, who both were startled by the noise.

Luigi hid behind his brother. "I don't like how that laugh sounded!"

The group listened for awhile, to see if they'd hear he laugh again.

"Bah! I bet that was nothing!" E. Gadd said. He headed for the other door, the gang quickly following him. He opened it up and they entered the next room.

"What room is this?" Sonic asked, inspecting the room with his Glow Block. The room was as big as the Inventions Room, only this time, it was empty. It had a gravel floor. There were also five holes on the ground closed by wooden panels. Luigi recognized the room.

"Hey! I remember this place!"

E. Gadd nodded. "This is the Training room where I taught Luigi how to use the Poltergust 3000!"

"The Poltergust 3000?" Tails wondered. "Is that the vacuum Luigi used during his quest through the mansion?"

"Yep!" Luigi answered. "That thing was hard to use at first, but I got used to it."

The group headed for the door to the next room. The professor went for the doorknob, but it wouldn't turn. "Hmm, it seems this door does not want to open." E. Gadd told.

"The door won't open?" Sonic said. He handed the Glow Block to Amy and tried to open the door. The same thing happened to him. "Man! This thing won't budge!"

"Here! Lemme try!" insisted Yoshi. He backed away a few steps and dashed towards the door. He rammed his head into it, causing a loud thud. Unfortunately, it didn't work, but it did give the dinosaur a big headache.

"Ohhh..." moaned Yoshi. He held onto his head. Mario patted him on the back.

"Well, at least you tried." Mario comforted.

"Th-that's it!" yelled Luigi. "I'm heading back to the workshop!" He headed back to the door for the Inventions room, but that door didn't open either. "Waah! This door won't open!"

The gang gasped.

"Oh no!" shouted Tails. "We're trapped!"

"Okay guys! Calm down!" demanded Mario. "I'm-a sure there is a good explanation for this!"

Suddenly, they heard another high pitched laugh, this time louder.

_Hahahaha..._

"What is that?" Amy asked. She held onto Sonic.

"Whatever it is." Sonic started. "It's in this room..."

Without warning, a small, spherical white orb started to glow in the middle of the room. Two more orbs appeared beside it. Luigi, seeing this, dropped back to his fetal position and rocked back and forth.

"W-W-W-What is th-th-that?" stuttered Luigi. The orbs floated around for a bit. Then, they floated towards Luigi. It didn't help that he was at the other end of the room from the gang, so the green plumber hid his face in his arms, afraid of what he'd see. The group watched the orbs float around Luigi for a bit. They floated lower and lower, closer to his face. Luigi could feel the cold breeze the orbs gave off. The orbs stopped moving. All of a sudden, faces appeared on the orbs. The faces had menacing eyes, making them look like they were always angry. They had a big mouth that was open. You could see the razor sharp teeth on the top and it's pink tongue on the bottom. The orbs had some sort of small "arms" coming from the sides.

Unusually, one of the Boos had more of a blue-tint to it's body.

"Oh no." whispered Mario. "Those are Boos!"

"That's what a Boo looks like?" Sonic asked. "It doesn't really look that intimidating!"

The Boos looked at Luigi. The green plumber couldn't stand waiting. He decided to take a small peek. He knew he would regret it. Slowly, he moved his head out of his arms. He saw the Boo's faces.

Without warning, the Boos quickly jerked toward him, giving out a terrifying shout. "

_"BOOOOOO!"_

Luigi jumped up in horror. "_WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!_" The plumber landed back on the ground. He quickly crawled away from the Boo's, who were laughing at his cowardliness.

"Hahahahaha!" laughed one of the Boos. "You were so scared!"

"Man!" said another Boo. "This plumber us such a wimp!"

Luigi crawled back towards the gang, hiding behind his brother. Mario was annoyed by the Boo's act. "Hey! Come on! That is-a not funny!"

The Boos continued to laugh. They suddenly noticed the Glow Block in Amy's hand. "Whoa! That light is bright!" yelled the Blue Boo. "I don't wanna go near that thing!" The Boos quickly disappeared. The group was surprised.

"Looks like they're scared of the light!" exclaimed Tails. "If we keep the Glow Block on, then they won't go near us!"

"Yeah, but it still doesn't solve the problem that we're stuck in here!" reminded Sonic.

Suddenly, the Glow Block started to flicker.

"Umm, guys!" Amy spoke up. "I think something's wrong with the Glow Block!"

The Glow Block flickered faster and faster. All of a sudden, the light of the Glow Block shut off, leaving all of them in total darkness.

"WAAAH!" shouted Luigi. He hid behind his brother, again.

"_Mamamia_! Looks like the Glow Block ran out of light." assumed Mario.

The trio of Boos reappeared in the middle of the room. "Hey! That light thing turned off!" one of the Boos pointed out.

"Let's get them!" shouted the otherBoo.

"Uh oh!" shouted Yoshi. "I think they're about to attack!" The Boos floated towards them, each having a menacing look on their face.

"Gah! We've got to get out of here!" yelled Tails.

Sonic stepped back from the door. "Move back! I'm breaking down this door!" He looked into the darkness, trying to find where the door was. He found it and quickly started charging a spin-dash. He released it, dashing towards the door. He got it to fall down on impact. The group headed for the other room. The Boo trio followed them.

"Don't let them get away!" commanded Blue-tinted Boo.

The group ran. Their feet were suddenly running on a steel surface. They suddenly faced a wall. They looked around. To their left and right were two hallways.

"Where are we, anyway?" asked Tails.

"We must be in my lab maze!" explained E. Gadd.

"_Why_ do you have a maze in your lab" Sonic asked.

"Nevermind that!" Luigi interrupted. "Which way should we go?"

"Let's split up!" Mario said "Me, Yoshi and Tails will chase the Boos away, while Luigi, Sonic, Amy and the professor will head for the breaker room!"

The group agreed. Sonic, Amy, Luigi and E. Gadd took the left hallway, leaving Mario, Tails and Yoshi behind. The plumber looked at the fox and dinosaur.

"Are you ready for some running?" Mario asked. Tails and Yoshi nodded.

"Ready for anything!" exclaimed Yoshi.

"Those Boos will never catch us!" assured Tails.

Suddenly, the Boos caught up to the three.

"Why, hello, Mario!" said the Blue Boo. "I've heard of you! You're the one who helped that _Luigi_ guy stop King Boo in his evil plans!" He gave them an cruel smile. "You will pay!"

Yoshi taunted them. "Only if you can catch us!" He quickly rushed to the right hallway. Tails quickly followed him. Mario chased after them. The Boo trio followed.

The Blue Boo stopped. "You two keep chasing them!" he demanded. He looked at the left hallway. "I'll chase the others." The two Boos nodded. They continued on their chase. The lone Boo floated to the left hallway, then suddenly turned invisible...

* * *

"So you know where the breaker room is?" asked Sonic. The professor nodded.

"I remember this maze like it was my child!" assured E. Gadd. "Just follow me!"

Sonic, Amy and Luigi followed the professor as he led them through the maze. They took a left turn, then a right, another right and took one more left. It was a good thing that E. Gadd decided to remove the other four levels of the maze.

"Are we there yet?" asked Luigi. He was getting tired. He constantly banged into the walls, since they were still in total darkness.

"Almost their, Luigi!" the professor answered. The group went through a long, straight path in the maze. They soon reached a steel, gray door with a cage window. It was locked. E. Gadd reached into his pocket, carrying out a large key. He put it through the lock and turned it. The steel door opened. The group rushed in.

"Where's the generator?" Sonic asked. He looked around the room, trying to find the machine in the dark.

"I see it!" shouted Amy. She pointed to the generator, which she could barely see in the dark. It was placed in the left corner, right beside a pile of wooden barrels.

Sonic was just about to rush to flip the switch, when a light-blue orb appeared in front of it.

"Oh no!" Luigi moaned. "Not again!" He shuddered at the sight.

"I thought the others were supposed to distract the Boos!" Amy said.

Sonic shrugged. "I guess one of them escaped!" He got into his battle position.

The blue orb turned into a Boo. It laughed. "There is no way I'll let any of you turn on this switch!" The Blue Boo suddenly gave out a loud, deep laugh. It instantly grew in size. Twice as bigger than any normal Boo. "I am The Big, _Blue_ Boo! The leader of the Big Boo clan and one of the more important _henchmens_ to King Boo!"

"Wait, Big, _Blue_ Boo?" He looked at him carefully. "Gee, you kind of remind me of one of those Big Boos back at the ghost houses at Donut Plains!"

The Big, Blue Boo stuck out it's tongue. "No matter! I will not allow any of you to touch this light!"

"Hmph! If you didn't know, I'm the fastest thing alive!" taunted Sonic. He quickly ran towards the Big Blue Boo, but suddenly, he froze in place. "Urrggh! I...can't...move!"

The Big Blue Boo laughed. "Hahaha! I'm much more powerful than any other Boo! I'm able to freeze people in place!" The ghost faced towards the barrels. Suddenly, one of them started to float. It floated in front of him. Suddenly, the barrel was hurled towards Sonic. It crashed into him, breaking into pieces. Sonic flew back and slammed against the breaker room's door.

"Sonic!" Amy cried out. She went up and kneeled beside him. "Are you okay?"

The blue hedgehog rubbed his back. "Heh...don't worry Amy. I'm okay." He suddenly got caught into another one of Amy's grasps.

The Big Blue Boo howled in laughter. "Hahahahaha! World's fastest thing alive? Bah! Even the Spooky Speedster is faster than you!" The turned to the pile of barrels and levitated another one. He was getting ready to throw the barrel right at them.

Luigi was too terrified to do anything. He crouched down, holding onto his head.

_Eeeh! I wish Mario was here to do something!_

"Luigi!" yelled out E. Gadd. "You must do something with this gruesome ghost!" The plumber heard his call, but was still too scared.

Sonic stood up with Amy supporting him. He looked at the crouching plumber. "Come on, Luigi! You've went into a mansion and fought off a hoard of ghosts! This guy is just _one_ Boo! You have to fight back!"

The plumber remembered his quest back at the mansion.

It's true. I did go through a haunted mansion packed with ghosts! If I was able to do that and live throught it, I should be able to fight this Big _Blue_ Boo!

Luigi slowly got up. He had a determined face on him. He stared at the Big Blue Boo. The ghost laughed back at him.

"Hah! You think you're good against me?" Suddenly, the floating barrel was lunged towards Luigi. The plumber didn't hesitate. He quickly put his hand into his back pocket and took out his wooden hammer. He swung it with all his might and broke the barrel with ease. Parts of it flew away from him, falling to the floor.

Everyone was astonished by the plumber's act. The Big Blue Boo was not too happy.

"So what if you broke a floating barrel?" The ghost said, not too impressed. Another barrel floated from the pile and was thrown towards Luigi. The plumber ran towards the barrel and smashed it with his wooden hammer. He quickly ran towards the Big Blue Boo, preparing to hit him with his hammer. It caught the Boo by surprise. Just as Luigi swung the hammer, the ghost quickly disappeared. The hammer hit the floor with a huge thud.

The dark room went silent for a moment. Then a voice boomed out.

"Gah! Looks like you have more _potential_ than I thought!" It was the Big Blue Boo. "The king won't be too happy about this. _Remember!_ You will pay...ALL OF YOU!"

Sonic shrugged. "Eh, something you'd expect from your typical villain." He looked to Luigi, who was putting his hammer back in his pocket. "Nice job, Luigi! You showed that ghost a thing or two!"

The professor nodded. "Might I say! I,_ too_, was surprised! You did something that I'd never expect from you, Luigi! Good job."

"Yeah! You also rocked with that hammer!" Amy added in.

Luigi nodded back at them. "Well, you can say I was surprised too!" He looked at the corner of the room, seeing the generator there. His sight had gotten adjusted from the dark. He walked up to it and flipped the switch to it. Instantly, the lights all around the lab came back on. The group was relieved to be in the light again.

"Come on. Let's check up on the others." said Luigi.

"I'm just hoping they're not lost in the lab maze!" Sonic pointed out. He walked out of the room with Amy by his side.

The group arrived back at the Training room. There, Mario, Yoshi and Tails were waiting there.

"Hey guys!" exclaimed Mario, seeing them come into the room. "It took you long enough!"

"Those Boos disappeared once the lights got back on." explained Tails.

"Yeah!" Yoshi said. "They were like, _Aaah! The light! It burns!_"

Mario walked up to them. "So, was it easy for you guys to get to the breaker room?"

"You should've seen Luigi!" Sonic started. "He faced that Big Blue Boo, and he wasn't afraid!"

Mario was surprised by the news. "Are you _sure,_ my brother, _Luigi_, the one who's terrified of ghosts, did that?"

"It was definitely him!" Amy assured.

Mario looked at his brother and smiled. "Fantastic, Luigi! You faced your fears!" He patted his brothers back. "I'm proud of you."

Luigi smiled back. "Aww, thanks bro!"

The professor interrupted their conversation. "Might I remind you all, we were talking about how we were going to return Sonic and his friends back to his universe before all this ruckus happened!"

"Oh, right! The machine, and the Power Stars!" Tails remembered. "When are we going to start?"

"Tomorrow." Sonic instructed. "We can't start star searching until we see a shooting star land somewhere tonight."

Everyone agreed. Soon, E. Gadd would start building the machine, while Mario, Sonic and their friends would find Power Stars to power it up. The group soon said goodbye to the professor and left the garage, heading back the Toad Town for a small rest.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain koopa and evil doctor were heading in that same direction...

_.._

_.._

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_

_Luigi has conquered his greatest fears! For now! "What could happen next in the heroes adventures? Stay tuned!_

_**Author Notes: Sorry for the looong wait everyone! My life has gotten a bit busier. For now, I'm thinking about updating the story once a week this time, every Wednesday. It takes a lot of thinking to make two chapters in one week, you know! Hoping you all can understand. Anyways, enjoy! Thanks for the support!  
**_

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They both belong to Nintendo and Sega.**_**  
**_


	13. Defending the Town!

**_Chapter 13: Defending the Town_**!

_**Mushroom Plains..**._

The sound of loud footsteps engulfed the wide grassland. Groups of the Koop Troop were marching through the Mushroom Plains, ready for attack on Toad Town. Goombas were waddling, Koopa Troopas were on their guard, Hammer Bros. were armed with their hammers and Lakitus patrolled around the group in the sky.

The leader of the group, Bowser, was flying in his fixed Koopa Clown Car. It had been repaired by Dr. Eggman, who followed behind him in his new machine, the Egg Cannon.

All troops! Get ready for attack on the town! roared Bowser. He raised his fist in the air. No backing down! This time, we WILL destroy those Stupid Mario Bros! The Koop Troops bellowed in agreement. They were encouraged by their leader's word. They were determined to complete their goal. To get rid of those Mario Bros.

"And it's time for me to get back at that annoying hedgehog and his friends!" added Eggman. He looked at the Koop Troop. There were lots of them. "With all these reinforcements, there is no doubt that our enemy will fall back."

Bowser glanced at Eggman. Make sure you know what to do. He looked forward. Just remember to leave Mario to me.

He looked out into the distance. Toad Town was finally in their view. The Koopa King pointed at it.

"Okay troops! Get ready for battle! We're almost there!"

The group got closer and closer. Soon, great havoc was about to be covered in Toad Town...

* * *

**_Princess Peach's Castle, Guest Room..._**

Wow! This bed is soo comfy! admired Yoshi. He was lying face-forward on Tails' guest bed. He sniffed the pillows. Mmm! They smell like peaches! He attempted to try and eat it, but ended up spitting the pillow out in disgust. Hey! This doesn't even taste like peaches!

The group of heroes got back from their visit from Professor E. Gadd. After a frightful encountered with a few Boos, the professor agreed to make a portal machine that would help take Sonic and his friends back to their own dimension.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Sonic. He was standing beside his guest bed, arms cross in a determined way. "How are we going to collect these Power Stars that will power the portal machine that will help us get back to our world?"

Mario scratched his chin. He was standing in front of Tail's guest bed, right beside his brother, Luigi. "Well, the professor said that a Power Star always shoots down from the sky every night, which means..."

"We'll have to wait until its night time then!" finished Luigi. Mario nodded back to him in agreement.

Tails joined in with the Mario Bros. "Right now, it's already an hour past noon. So that means..." he briefly paused. "...we have to wait an estimate of six hours until it turns dark!"

Umm, when exactly is that? Luigi asked.

"Seven o' clock." Tails answered.

Amy stepped into their conversation. "Well, what are we supposed to do until then? We can't just sit around here, doing nothing."

Sonic stretched his arms out in the air. "You know, Amy's right." He spin jumped over his bed and headed towards the room's balcony. "Why don't we go around town a little bit? Do some sight-seeing?" He opened the balcony doors, revealing the giant lake that was beside the castle, along with the waterfront of Toad Town. "You should know me by now. There's no way I'd wanna stay indoors, waiting for something to happen. Too boring!"

Tails nodded. "Yeah! That sounds like a good idea. I could also check what kind of technology this town as, along with a few machinery."

"Then it's settled." Mario said. "We'll just have a day of relaxing, looking around town. Maybe the princess would want to go to."

The group headed downstairs to the foyer. The Mario Bros. told the princess about their plans. She thought it was a good idea.

That sounds splendid. told Peach. And by all means, you do deserve a small break from all your adventuring. She told Toadsworth that she was going out with the group.

"What a capital idea." the old advisor stated. "A day of relaxing! This would also be a good idea to be more acquainted with Sonic and his friends. Oh, but make sure the princess doesn't get into any harm."

The Mario Bros. nodded. Don't worry, Toadsworth! The princess is safe within our hands. assured Luigi.

The group finally headed out of the castle. They crossed through the castle grounds and exited the castle gates. They walked down the path headed towards the central part of the town. All around them were various houses of the Toad residence. Lots of greenery surrounded the town. The plants were blooming at their fullest, giving the town a bright feeling. There was a large fountain in the middle of the town square. A statue of a Super Mushroom was in the middle. There were various Toad shops that sold a large supply of items and essentials.

Luigi stretched out his arms while they were walking. He gave a relaxing sigh. Amah! It feels really nice out today!

"It's always nice out here in Toad Town!" corrected Mario. Luigi nodded back.

Sonic and his friends looked around at the town with amazement. To them, it felt a little bit different.

"Wow. The people of this town seem all busy!" commented Tails. He watched as one Toad was carrying a basket of Mushrooms back into a house. "But at the same time, it seems quite peaceful."

"This town is claimed to be one of the most cheerful places in the Mushroom Kingdom." Peach told as they continued to walk. "It is also the place where I was born."

"I'm sure this town is really important to you." said Amy.

Peach nodded. "It surely is. It is the heart and soul of the Mushroom Kingdom. It represents what the whole kingdom is about. A place where everyone can enjoy themselves without any worries, where everyone was kind to each other and would help anyone in need. It would sadden me if something terrible would happen to this city."

"You know, this place sure does remind me of the Green Hill Zone back in my world." Sonic said. "All the animals there were quite peaceful to each other." The hedgehog then remembered about his friends back in his world. "I just hope we'll be able to get back home."

"Don't worry, Sonic." comforted Mario. "If we work together in finding those Power Stars, you'll be back home in no time!" The plumber gave him a thumbs-up. Sonic gave one back.

The group continued to walk around the town. Suddenly, Yoshi's stomach began to grumble. Oohh. I'm getting kind of hungry. Is it okay if we grab a bite to eat?

"Well, now that you mention it, I'm also hungry too!" replied Luigi. "Let's get some lunch!"

The group headed for a restaurant called The Shroom Cafe. It was located near the town square. They decided to get a table outside the restaurant. They all sat down, ready to order.

Tails skimmed down through the menu. "Do they have anything in a minty flavour?"

"The only thing I know they have that's mint is the ice cream." Luigi answered.

"You mean Mint Chip Ice Cream!" the fox exclaimed. "Sonic! Can I get it?"

Alright, but don't eat too much. the hedgehog answered. I don't want you to get a stomach ache or anything. He looked into his menu. I wonder if they have any chilli dogs.

Amy couldn't make up her mind on what to eat. "Princess, what would you recommend on this menu?"

"I would say you should try the Apple Pie." Peach answered. "But the Blueberry Cheesecake would also be a good choice."

"I'm going to get four Fruity Hamburgers, two Peach Tarts, three glasses of Mango Juice and a big slice of Chocolate Cake!" exclaimed Yoshi.

"They put fruit on hamburgers?" Tails asked. The dinosaur nodded.

"It's surprisingly delicious." Luigi added. "You should try it." The fox thought about it for a moment, and decided to give it a small sampling.

The group chose what to order and waited for a waiter.

You know, this restaurant's food reminds me of Tayce T.'s recipes. Mario explained. She used to work here in Toad Town, but now she's working in a bigger restaurant in Mushroom City.

"I think I remember her." Luigi said. "I think she lost her Cook Book once."

The waiter headed towards their table. It was a Blue Toad wearing a waiting outfit. He greeted them and was about to take their order when suddenly, a scream emitted from the distance.

WAAAAAH! The town is under attack! shouted a Red Toad. He and a few other Toads ran away from the lake area. The group of heroes looked watched as the Toads started to panic.

"The town is under attack?" repeated Amy. "By who?

Sonic's face turned serious. I have a feeling who it might be. He jumped out of his chair. Come on! Let's check it out.

The group headed towards the lake. Along the way, Toad civilians were running in panic, shouting out in terror. Some locked up their houses, while others tried to get away from the commotion.

As the group reached the pier of the lake, a shot was heard in the distance. They stopped.

"What was that sound?" asked Yoshi.

"It sounded like something was shot!" Tails answered.

Suddenly, a Bullet Bill came crashing down right in front of them. It gave out a small explosion. A few debris flew out from the ground.

"Whoa! That was a close one!" said Luigi.

Mario turned to Peach. "Princess! You better hide in a safe place while we check to see who is causing all this trouble."

"I'll go with Peach." volunteered Amy.

"Are you sure you can handle this, Amy?" Sonic asked.

The pink hedgehog nodded to him. "Don't worry, Sonic. You can count on me." She turned to Peach. "We should find a safe spot, Peach." Amy grabbed Peach's hand and the two headed back to the tow square.

_I hope she knows what to do._ Sonic thought.

Suddenly, another Bullet Bill crashed near them. This time, it almost hit Yoshi.

Wah! That one almost hit me! the dinosaur quickly ran beside Mario. We should get moving!

The Mario Bros, Yoshi, Sonic and Tails rushed to the lake front. When they got there, almost all the Toads were gone. They looked around, seeing where the shot of Bullet Bills came from.

"Where do you think the attackers are?" Tails asked.

Sonic looked up to the sky. "Hey! I see something coming towards the town." He pointed to the object.

There was something floating towards them. It was a big turtle. It was piloting on some sort of hovercraft with a clown face painted in the front. Two large cannons were set at the side. Mario instantly recognized the figure.

The Koopa King gave out a mighty laugh. Bwahaha! It's good to see you're still in fancy shape, Mario. He lowered his Koopa Clown Car right in front of them. The cannons suddenly retreated back into the hovercraft. You know, it feels like it's been months since our last encounter! He noticed Sonic and Tails beside them. So, you must be the ones who teamed up with these pesky plumbers!

Sonic crossed his arms. "And you must be the Bowser I've heard of in the past few days."

Bowser gave him a mean grin. The doctor has told me a lot about you and you're fox friend!

_I guess it's true_. Thought Sonic. _Eggman really must be working with this troublemaking turtle!_

Now! Today will be the day that the Koop Troop will finally defeat the Mario Bros! Bowser declared. He suddenly gave out a mighty roar. It was louder than a bullhorn. In no time, groups of Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and Hammer Bros. marched through the streets of Toad Town. Paratroopas and Lakitus appeared out of the sky. They all surrounded the heroes.

"Mamamia!" Luigi shrieked. "There are so much of them!" He started to cower when Mario snapped at him.

"Luigi! We have to protect the town!" Mario commanded. He brought out his wooden hammer. Luigi did the same.

Hmph! I can handle a few turtle monsters! Sonic taunted, quickly getting into battle position. The group was about to attack when they heard a loud, rumbling noise. It sounded like an engine of some sort.

Tails perked up his ears. "What was that?"

The sound was coming from the town's main gates. Instantly, a large machine drove onto the pathway towards the lake. It rode on two large mechanical wheels and a large cannon was situated in front of the machine. Two smaller cannons appeared next to what seemed to be the cockpit of the machine. The cockpit opened, revealing an egg-shaped figure. It was none other than Eggman.

"Hohoho! It is I! Doctor Ivo Robotnik!" announced the scientist. "You may call me Eggman if you prefer!" He looked to see the heroes surrounded by Bowser's minions. "Looks like you've gotten yourselves in a diabolical situation, Sonic!"

Sonic responded. Eggman! What are you doing here?You should know me by now, Sonic! Eggman started. It is my duty in the whole , entire galaxy to get rid of my arch-nemesis, which of course, is _you_! He gave Sonic a devious look. The hedgehog was ot intimidated by the doctor.

Alright! It's time to shut the yap! Bowser shouted out. Now it's time for fighting part! He pointed to the heroes. Go! Koop Troop! Attack!

Bowser's minions closed around the heroes. They instantly charged at them. Before they could crush them, the heroes jumped out of the way. Mario stomped on a group of Goomba heads. Luigi was on Yoshi. The dinosaur had flutter jumped into the air and executed a ground-pound, hitting a group of Koopa Troopas. They retreated to their shells. Tails carried Sonic by hand and flew above the cluster of enemies. Hammer Bros threw their hammers at them, but missed. Sonic let go of Tails and flipped in the air. He did a Homing Attack, and did a combo on the group of Hammer Bros.

Seeing this, Bowser commanded his Paratroopas and Lakitus to attack. The minions flew towards the heroes.

After stomping on a few Goomba heads, Mario landed on the ground. He saw the Paratroopas heading towards them. He jumped high into the air, readying his wooden hammer. He got close enough to a Paratroopa. He swung his hammer with a mighty force, knocking the flying turtle. The turtle retreated to his shell. The shell flew back, hitting another Paratroopa. Both the shells fell towards the ground. Mario landed safely back on the ground, getting ready for the another attack from the flying enemies.

Yoshi charged towards a group of Koopa Troopas. Luigi got his hammer ready. Once Yoshi got close to the turtles, Luigi quickly swung his hammer towards them. It hit them, causing them to retreat to their shells and fly through the air.

"Alright! We are doing pretty good!" exclaimed Luigi.

Suddenly, a Spiny fell in front of them, surprising them. Both of them looked up, spotting a Lakitu above them. It got ready to throw another Spiny. Thinking quickly, Yoshi swallowed the Spiny on the ground and aimed at the Lakitu. He spit it out. The Spiny rocketed towards the Lakitu. It was a direct hit. The Lakitu fell off his cloud and tumbled towards the ground. Yoshi quickly swallowed the falling Lakitu.

"Why'd you do that?" Luigi asked.

"We missed lunch! And I was hungry!" explained Yoshi.

Suddenly, a Bullet Bill flew and crashed in front of them. The duo flew back from the force. Luigi fell off Yoshi's saddle and tumbled on the ground, dropping his hammer. Yoshi landed on his stomach, hurting him badly.

Wah! That hurt! yelped Yoshi.

The Bullet Bill came from the Egg Cannon. Eggman did a short celebration dance. Hoho! Bullseye! He went back to his control panel and fired another Bullet Bill at the fallen Luigi and Yoshi. It was shot from the two small cannons. The Bullet Bill flew at a tremendous speed.

Mario, after just clearing out all the Paratroopas, saw that his friends were in danger. "Luigi! Yoshi! Hurry! Get up!"

Luigi saw the Bullet Bill flying towards him. He covered his head, knowing he wouldn't get out of the way in time. Just before it hit him, Sonic did a Homing Attack on it, destroying it with ease. He landed next to Luigi.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Sonic asked.

Luigi looked up, seeing the hedgehog in front of him. "I'm fine, thanks to you." He checked to see where Yoshi was. The dinosaur was in huge pain. He was holding onto his chest. Luigi and Sonic went to him.

"Yoshi! Are you okay?" asked a worried Luigi.

"My stomach! It got really hurt from the explosion!" explained Yoshi. He breathed heavily.

"We need to get him in a safe place." Sonic said. Luigi helped Yoshi up.

Mario and Tails had just cleared the last of Bowser's minions. They rushed up to the three.

"Is Yoshi okay?" Tails asked.

"He'll be fine. We just need to get him to a safe place." Luigi explained.

Bowser flew towards the group. Aww! What such nice friends you have become! He quickly laughed after the statement. Too bad! 'Cause today will be the day you _all_ get destroyed! He flew back into the air and whistled to Eggman. The doctor quickly pushed a button on the Egg Cannons control panel. A large Banzai Bill popped out of the main cannon. Eggman instantly fired it. It headed towards the heroes.

"Quick! We need to get out of the way!" Mario shouted.

Luigi and Tails helped Yoshi walk out of the Banzai Bills path. The bullet crashed to where the group was before. It gave out a big explosion. The group was amazed how fast the Banzai Bill flew.

"Whoa! We barely escaped that one!" Tails exclaimed.

"We need to find a way to disarm that thing!" Sonic said. "It could destroy the whole town."

Luigi! Tails! You help Yoshi get to a safe place while me and Sonic try to destroy Eggman's machine! Mario demanded.

The three didn't hesitate. Luigi, Tails and Yoshi headed back to the town square. They joined up with Peach and Amy, who were waiting, along with a few other Toads, at The Shroom Cafe.

Bowser was impressed by Eggman's machine. _I guess it was a good idea trusting this doctor._ He turned to Eggman. Alright! Fire another Banzai Bill!Uhh, I'm afraid I can't. said Eggman. There was only enough room for _one_ Banzai Bill."

Bowser was silent for a moment. Then he roared out in anger. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? YOU MEAN YOU COULDN'T FIT ROOM FOR ANOTHER BULLET?

Eggman nodded. "What do you expect? The Banzai Bill was almost as big as the Egg Cannon."

The Koopa King was furious, but then calmed down. Gah! Never mind! Just destroy our enemies!

The Egg Cannon wheeled towards Mario and Sonic, who were in ready position. The two small cannons quickly loaded up with Bob-ombs.

Bombs away! exclaimed Eggman, pushing a button on the control panel. The Bob-ombs were then fired towards the two heroes. Reacting immediately, Mario and Sonic jumped towards the Bob-ombs. Sonic quickly kicked back the bomb back towards the Egg Cannon, while Mario swung his hammer and knocked the other bomb back. Both bombs flew into the big cannon.

Eggman paniced Oh no! The main cannon is right next to the engine! If that gets badly damaged, then- but before Eggman could finish his sentence, the Egg Cannon exploded. A big explosion emmited from it. Eggman flew out of the dust, flying right back to Bowser's Castle.

The Koopa King was mad. "GAH! THAT DOCTOR SCREWED UP!" He banged onto the side of his Koopa Clown Car. He turned to Mario and Sonic, who were high-fiving each other. He pointed to them.

"This time, you two win! But the next time we meet, _I won't be letting this happen again!_ Bowser quickly piloted his Clown Car back to his castle.

Mario put his wooden hammer back. "We did really well today." He turned to Sonic. "Good kick, by the way!"

The hedgehog put his hands on his hips. "Don't mention it! You're hammer swings were pretty impressive though."

Mario put a hand behind his head. "Thanks."

* * *

**_Princess Peach's Castle, Dining Room_**...

It was now seven 'o clock in Toad Town. The sun had already set and a few stars were already in the sky. The group of heroes were in the dining room, already finished their dinner. They were pretty tired from the fight against Bowser and Eggman.

"Man! I am full!" Yoshi exclaimed. He was back in shape. His stomach didn't hurt anymore, thanks to eating a Super Mushroom."Thanks for helping me out in the fight earlier. You guys are the best friends a Yoshi could ever have!"

"Don't worry, Yoshi!" said Tails. "We'll stick together no matter what!"

"I'm just glad you all are okay." Peach assured.

"It must have been a tough fight!" assumed Amy. "But I bet it was no problem for you, Sonic!"

"It wasn't too bad." explained Sonic. "It was different than the other battles I've been through though."

Mario looked down at the table. Still, Bowser and Eggman are working together. Who knows what they'll come up with next.

"Cheer up, bro!" Luigi exclaimed. "Remember, as long as we work together, nothing will stop _us_!" Mario smiled to his brother.

"Wait! It's nighttime, right?" Tails asked. "Aren't we supposed to check for a falling Power Star?"

"Do not worry. I have a Toad placed in the highest tower." explained Peach. "He is looking through a telescope we gave him and seeing where the shooting star may land."

Suddenly, a Yellow Toad ran into the dining room, excited. "Princess! Princess! I know where the Power Star landed!"

Yoshi jumped out of his chair. "Where is it now?"

"Well, you kind of may not like this, but..." the Toad started. "It landed in the Toxic Forest."

The group was shocked.

"The Toxic Forest?" asked Sonic. "What's that?"

"It is a dark and eerie swamp area." Peach started. "The trees are very high and cover almost every inch of the sky, only letting very little light through the forest. The area is filled with numerous spikes and poison ivy. The swamp is filled with toxic liquid lakes and rivers that will immediately...well"

"I think I get the picture." Sonic said. "What else is in there?"

The place is also filled with lots of Pirahna Plants and Wigglers. explained Luigi. There is also lots of pipes in the forest that lead to an underground that's very easy to get lost in, or so I've read.

"Geez, that sounds dangerous!" Tails commented. "Are you sure we'll be able to get the Power Star?"

Mario stood up. "Of course! If we work together, we'll be able to go through the Toxic Forest and find-a that Power Star!"

So it was settled. Tomorrow, the group will be heading to the Toxic Forest and find their first Power Star, which will help Sonic and his friends get back to their world...

Now, is the _real_ start of their adventure!

.

.

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_

_It looks like the group successfully pushed Bowser and Eggman out of town! but there is no doubt they'll be back! Now their next objective is to go through a dangerous, toxic-filled forest to obtain the first Power Star that will help Sonic and his friends! What challenges will await them? Stay tuned!_

**_Author Notes: Hooray! After a long wait, I've finally posted the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite! I aim to upload a chapter every Friday! Hopefully, you guys will forgive me for the huge delay. Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. It's really long, eh? Thanks for the support!_**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They both belong to Nintendo and Sega.**_  
_


	14. Journey into the Toxic Forest!

**_Chapter 14: Journey into the Toxic Forest_!**

_..._

_I...will...destroy you._

"Huh? Who is that?"

_I...am...better...than you._

"What are you talking about? Who's there!"

_I...am...the real one!_

"Who are you? Show yourself!"

_..._

* * *

_**Princess Peach's Castle, Guest Room...**_

"Sonic..."

"Wake up."

"_Sonic_!"

The blue hedgehog quickly sat up from his guest bed, waking up from his slumber. Beside his bed, was Tails and Amy, with worried looks on their face.

Sonic rubbed one of his eyes, still a bit tired. "Oh, hey guys."

"Sonic, are you okay?" asked Tails. "You were talking in your sleep."

The hedgehog looked to his friend. "I was?"

"Yeah," Amy answered. "You were saying these really weird things. Are you sure you didn't have a nightmare or anything?"

Sonic thought for a moment, trying to recollect his thoughts. "I think I did dream something." He tried to remember his dream. "I kept hearing this voice in my head. I couldn't figure out who it was, but it sounded_ so_ familiar."

"Well, don't worry too much about it." Amy comforted. "I'm sure a nice breakfast will make things better."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Tails. "I just hope today the princess will make pancakes." He quickly rushed out of the bedroom door and headed downstairs.

Sonic climbed out of his bed, fixing up the blankets. Amy waited for him by the door.

"Um, Sonic?"

Sonic looked up. "Yeah?"

"Do you remember when we encountered that dark figure a few days back? The one that looked just like you?" Her face seemed to show curiosity.

Memories flashed back to Sonic's mind. He remembered about the dark figure back in the jungle. The one that eerily looked just like him.

"What about him?"

"It kind of seemed to know us." Amy said. "I remembered that he said we've caused him trouble in the past."

Sonic already finished fixing his bed. "Yeah. It did feel like he did know us. But it also said that Mario caused him trouble too. How would you explain that?"

Amy shrugged. "I don't know." She thought for a moment, then quickly cheered up. "Come on, let's go eat breakfast. Mario and his brother will be here soon."

Sonic smiled, then nodded. The two hedgehogs walked downstairs to the dining room.

Today, they were going to search for their first Power Star...

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Throne Room..._**

The Koopa King paced back and forth in front of his throne chair, mumbling about something. The doctor was in front of him, watching him think.

"So, what do you think we should do next?" asked Eggman. "We can't just stay here and do nothing. We have to think of a plan to stop Mario and Sonic."

Without warning, Bowser breathed out a fireball towards Eggman. The doctor quickly jumped out of the way, landing on his stomach.

"Hey! What was that for?" complained Eggman. He brushed dirt off his knees.

Bowser turned to the doctor. His face was filled with anger. "Don't you try to forget about what happened yesterday! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have to think of another plan to destroy our rivals!"

Eggman sweat dropped. "Oh, yes. That incident." The doctor slowly walked up to Bowser. "Please Koopa King, it was just one minor setback. I'm sure if you give me another chance, I can make a much bigger, more powerful machine!"

Bowser calmed down a bit, still angry at the doctor. "Hmph, fine, I'll give you one more chance. But this time, I'll think of the idea for the machine."

"Oh yes! No problem." Eggman was relieved. He wouldn't have to worry about another fireball being shot at him. "So, when shall I start getting the supplies ready?"

Bowser stopped the doctor. "Hey, slow down! We're not building a machine yet! I'm still thinking of a plan to stop the Mario Bros."

"And Sonic!" Eggman added in.

The Koopa King gave him an annoyed look. He started to think. "Hmm, somehow, I can't think of anything today." He looked out from one of his throne room windows. Outside, he could see the lava boiling outside his castle. Small fireballs jumped out of the lava, then dove back in.

"This may take awhile." said Bowser. A few minutes later, an idea popped out of his head. "Kamek! I need you in the throne room, now!"

Suddenly, a Magikoopa flew into the throne room on a broom. It was wearing a light-blue robe and hat that resembled what wizards would wear. It was also wearing circle-shaped glasses.

"What is your order, your Queasiness?" asked Kamek.

Kamek is the advisor of Bowser. He is a high-ranking member of the Koop Troop and leader of the Magikoopas. Kamek had raised Bowser since he was in his infancy and has been watching the Koopa King ever since.

"I want you to find the Mario Bros. and their friends and report back to me on what they are doing?"

Kamek nodded. "As you wish, your Gnarliness." He was about to fly out of the throne room, went Bowser Jr barged in.

"Can I come with Kamek, papa?" Junior begged. "Please? I have nothing to do in this castle anyway!"

Bowser grumbled. "Fine. Go with Kamek. But don't get in any trouble, you hear me?"

Junior nodded. "No problem!" He headed out the throne room.

"Make sure you keep an eye on him, Kamek." Bowser told. "I'm counting on you."

The Magikoopa nodded, then flew out of the throne room. Bowser sat down on his chair.

The doctor was puzzled. "What is your plan, Bowser?"

Bowser grinned. "It's good to know what the enemy is up to. It can give you an advantage..."

* * *

**_Princess Peach's Castle, Helicopter Pad..._**

It was already eleven o'clock when the Mario Bros. arrived, accompanied by Yoshi. The gang had already eaten breakfast and were now preparing their flight to the Toxic Forest. They all waited inside the Chop Chop Helicopter on the helicopter pad, located at the back of the castle.

"Boy! I'm pretty nervous right now." Tails said. He was sitting in the passenger seats in the back of the helicopter. His seat was right next to Yoshi, while Sonic and Amy's seats sat right across them, making the four face each other. "I've never been to a forest full of toxic liquid before."

"I wouldn't try swimming in it if I were you." Luigi advised. He sat in the seat beside the pilot chair. "I've seen a Goomba fall into the toxic river once, and I'm telling you, it wasn't a pretty sight to see!"

A Toad was talking to Mario outside the helicopter. "Okay, you're all set and ready to go! Just wait 'till one of the Toads give out a signal.

Mario climbed into the pilot seat. Peach walked up to him. "Please, be careful out there."

Mario gave her a thumbs-up. He closed the door to the helicopter. One of the Toads gave him the green light, signalling they can go. The plumber started the engine of the Chop Chop helicopter. The rotors started to spin wildly. The helicopter was soon off the ground. It ascended high into the air. The princess waved to them.

The Chop Chop Helicopter was soon out of Toad Town, now above the Mushroom Plains. The gang looked down to check the view. Everything below them looked really small, like the world had been shrunk by a Mini Mushroom.

Mario switched on the helicopters GPS. He searched up the Toxic Forest. Coordinates showed up on the screen. It was only a few miles ahead of them.

Sonic tried to relax in his chair. "Boy! A few miles is pretty long if you just walk there. I'd be there in a split second if I ran."

"You must be the fastest thing alive if you can do that!" commented Yoshi.

The hedgehog smiled. "Well, maybe it's because I am."

Yoshi crossed his arms, showing an impressed smile. "Well, believe it or not, _I_ was crowned the fastest runner back on Yoshi Island!"

"Hey, that's pretty amazing." Sonic exclaimed. "But I bet at least a few people have outran you before."

Yoshi shook his head in disagreement. "No one has ever beaten me in a race!" He thought for a moment. "But, if me and you raced, then you'd win for sure."

Sonic shrugged. "Eh, what can I say. I'm an overachiever."

Luigi looked back at them, listening to their conversation. "Hey, Sonic. Did you ever race in go-karts before?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. Me and my friends held a grand prix one time."

Luigi smiled. "Hey! Maybe someday, we could race each other."

Tails jumped into the conversation. "Hey! Could I race too?"

"Hey! Me too!" added in Amy. " A race in the Mushroom Kingdom would be fun!"

Luigi thumbed up. "Yeah, sure. All of us could race! But I got to tell you, my brother is the best in the kingdom."

"Hey, Luigi. You didn't have to say that." Mario said. He felt kind of embarrassed. He looked back at the GPS. They were almost at Toxic Forest. "Okie-dokie, guys! We're almost there!"

A few minutes later, they finally arrived. Mario landed the Chop Chop Helicopter just outside the Toxic Forest. Everybody unbuckled their seatbelts and climbed out of the helicopter.

"Whoa, this forest looks huge!" said Tails. He was astonished by the size of Toxic Forest.

The trees were huge. The trunks were humongous. The leaves were lush and a dark green. Vines hung from the branches. Patches of grass was scattered around the forest. There was no sign of any toxic.

"Hmph, for a forest that's supposed to be filled with toxic, there really isn't much of it." Sonic commented.

"Oh, believe me, there isa _lot _of toxic in this forest." Luigi explained.

The group entered the forest. Mario was first, followed by Luigi. Sonic was right behind him, with Amy by his side. Tails and Yoshi were behind them, looking around the forest.

"Wow, it's pretty dark in here." said Tails. "There is barely enough light coming into the forest."

"It sure is creepy in here." Amy told. She huddled closer to Sonic. He was a little uneasy.

"Um, come on, Amy. Nothing will hurt you out here." He assured.

"Yeah, Amy." Luigi joined in. "And besides, if anything does try to hurt you, I bet Sonic will protect you!"

Sonic gave him an annoyed look, while Amy smiled.

The group headed deeper and deeper into the forest, with no luck finding the Power Star.

"How long have we've been looking?" asked Yoshi. He was getting bored from searching. "It feels like we've been in this forest forever!"

"Uhh, it's only been ten minutes." Tails said.

Suddenly, Yoshi's stomach grumbled. "Boy, I'm hungry." He looked to the others. "Did any of you bring any food?"

They all nodded. Yoshi sighed. He started to look around him.

_There's got to be food somewhere!_

He stopped. To his right, he saw a large, yellow caterpillar hiding behind a few small bushes. It had a white flower on it's head and had orange polka-dots on his body. In front of it, was an apple, with a bite in it. Apparently, the caterpillar was happily eating it.

_Hey! That Wiggler is eating an apple! _

Yoshi decided to go up to it. The Wiggler noticed him, but didn't bother doing anything to him and continued eating.

Unexpectedly, Yoshi spit out his tongue and grabbed onto the apple, surprising the Wiggler. Yoshi swallowed it whole. He rubbed his stomach, happy to have eaten something.

To the Wiggler, this made it furious. It stomped angrily. Yoshi watched the caterpillars tantrum, and slowly backed away. Too late.

In a quick motion, the Wiggler closed it's eyes, causing a steam of smoke come out of it's ears. It's body suddenly turned bright red. It's eye opened again, revealing it to be all white. It turned towards Yoshi, and charged at him. The dinosaur jumped in horror, then quickly ran back to the group. The Wiggler followed.

"Hey, what's that sound?" Tails asked. He looked behind him. He saw Yoshi running towards them, waving both his hands in a hurry. "Hey, Yoshi! Why are you running?" He looked behind the dinosaur, seeing the angry Wiggler. "Whoa! What is that?"

Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Amy looked to what the fox was talking about. They saw as Yoshi was coming at them, with the Wiggler right behind.

"RUN!" shouted Yoshi.

"Uh-oh! We should get out of here!" yelled Sonic.

"Mamamia! That's a big Wiggler!" screamed Luigi. He quickly started to run, while the others quickly did the same.

The group twisted and turned between the trees of the forest, trying to evade the raging caterpillar. All their efforts did little effect, as the Wiggler was still on their Tail.

Sonic decided to try something. "Alright, it's time to change things up a bit." He jumped into the air and did a backflip. He gained enough air to go over the Wiggler. He instantly did a Homing Attack. It toppled the caterpillar over onto it's back. It flailed it's legs in the air, trying to get up.

The hedgehog landed beside the Wiggler. "Ha! This worm has got nothing on me!"

Suddenly, the Wiggler rolled back onto it's feet and stomped angrily again, this time much more furious than before. Sonic, surprised to see the caterpillar back in action, went back to running along with the others. The Wiggler gave chase.

The heroes continued to run through the forest, still being chased by the angry Wiggler. Suddenly, Mario stopped in front, causing the others to bump into him.

"Bro! Why'd you stop?" Luigi asked. He looked in front of his brother, seeing why he had stopped.

In front of him, was a large, flowing river. It was no ordinary river, as it was a river filled with dangerous purple toxic!

"What do we do?" shouted Tails.

Mario looked around him, to see if there was something they could use to cross the toxic river to escape the Wiggler. Then, he saw what they needed.

He pointed into the river. There was a huge log that was flowing in the rivers direction. "Guys! We have to jump on that log!" Mario instructed.

"Are you sure we can make it?" Amy asked. "It doesn't look safe!"

"It's our _only_ choice." Sonic said.

The log flowed right in front of them. One by one, the group jumped onto the log, keeping their balance on it. The Wiggler kept on running, not realizing the toxic river in front of it. It tripped and fell in with a big splash. Bubbles surfaced, but the Wiggler was no where in sight.

"Whoa! What happened to it?" Tails asked.

Luigi shook his head. "You _don't _want to know."

The log floated into the middle of the river, still flowing in the rapids. The heroes struggled to stay on.

"Now what do we do?" Yoshi asked. " How do we get back on the land?"

Suddenly, Amy lost her balance and fell off the log. "Aah!"

"Amy!" shouted Sonic. He tried to grab her hand, but it was out of reach.

Before she fell into the river, a blue platform surfaced and appeared right under her. She landed safely on it.

"Huh?" Amy was surprised. She inspected the blue platform. "What did I land on?"

All of a sudden, a huge head of an animal popped in front of the platform. The animal had the face of a dolphin, but also wore bright yellow goggles. It's head rose out of the toxic waters, revealing its long neck. The blue platform raised up a bit, revealing to be the body of the animal. The creature resembled a plesiosaur. Amy was surprised.

"Wow! What is the animal?" Tails asked.

"That looks like a Dorrie!" answered Mario. "Those are very gentle creatures that like to swim around."

Suddenly, the log the heroes were still on stopped moving. It had bumped into a rock.

"Hey, that's good." said Sonic.

The Dorrie swam towards them. Amy held onto it's neck. The heroes jumped onto the creature. It carried them to the other side of the river. The heroes climbed off. They waved back to Dorrie as it swam back into the river.

"Good thing that Dorrie was there." explained Sonic. "Otherwise..."

"Let's not talk about it right now." said Luigi. "Come on! We've still got to find a Power Star."

The heroes continued their search for the Power Star. They looked behind bushes, atop treetops, even digging into the ground, but sadly, they still didn't find it.

Yoshi was about to give up hope. "There's no way we'll find the Power Star in this huge forest! We've looked forever!"

"Come on, Yoshi." Tails tried to cheer him up. "If we work together, we'll find that Power Star!" Yoshi smiled at the fox's encouragement.

Mario was a bit tired from the search. He decided to look up. His eyes widened. "Hey! Look!" He pointed up. There, in front of them, was the Power Star, shining out it's golden color. The group cheered. Unfortunately, the Power Star was stuck on a web, which was on the highest branch of the tree.

"Don't worry, guys! I'll handle this." Tails assured. He started to propel his two tails and flew up into the Power Star. He was about to grab it, when suddenly a small web shot out from the trees and wrapped around Tails' tails. Because of this, Tails couldn't fly anymore, and started to fall. Luckily, Sonic caught him before he touched the ground.

"Thanks, Sonic." said Tails. He looked to his tails. They were stuck together by the webs. He tried to remove it, but couldn't. "Ugh, I can't...get this thing...off!"

Sonic looked around the tree tops. "I wonder what shot those webs. He then noticed. A whole bunch of webs surrounded the web the Power Star was on. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

Suddenly, a whole group of spider-looking creatures crawled out of the leaves. They had orange and black stripped bodies and legs. Their feet resembled red plungers.

"Oh no!" Scuttle Bugs!" shouted Luigi.

"Scuttle Bugs? What are they?" asked Amy.

"You could say they are really big spiders!" explained Mario.

The Scuttle Bugs hissed angrily at the heroes, as if threatening them if they took away the Power Star.

Sonic took the challenge. "Eh, these guys don't look scary to me!" He was about to jump when a web was shot at his feet. He ended up tripping onto the ground. He looked to his feet, seeing they were stuck together by the web. "This isn't good!"

Suddenly, the Scuttle Bugs shot out a ton of web onto Sonic and Tails. It covered most of their bodies, making them stuck onto the ground.

"Wah! I...can't move!" shouted Tails.

"Man! This stuff is too sticky!" Sonic complained, trying his best to get out of it.

"Oh no! We'd better help them!" Amy called to Yoshi. The dinosaur nodded and proceeded to help Tails. Amy went to Sonic.

"I wouldn't do it if I were you!" Luigi yelled.

It was too late. The Scuttle Bugs shot out a string of web towards Yoshi and Amy. It wrapped around each one of them, tying around their arms and body. The Scuttle Bugs quickly pulled on their webs, hanging the two above the branches.

"Hey! Let us go!" shouted Amy. She and Yoshi struggled to escape the binds. The Scuttle Bugs surrounded the four captives.

Mario and Luigi were the only ones left who weren't captured by the Scuttle Bugs. The bugs closed in on them, preparing to do the same to their friends.

Sonic struggled. "Mario! Luigi! Do something!"

Luigi hid behind his brother. "Mario! What do we do?"

Mario looked the Scuttle Bugs in the eyes. He stayed calm.

"Hold on."

...

...

_To be continued._

* * *

_Looks like the heroes are in a "sticky" situation! Can the Mario Bros. save them? Tune in next week to find out!_

_**Author Notes: Finally got this chapter done! I promised I'd update every Friday. Hope you guys enjoy it! For people who don't know what Dorrie is, it's that swimming dniosaur that helped you in Super Mario 64 in the "Hazy Maze Cave" level. Next chapter will be up next week. Thanks for the support everyone, and check out my profile for news and updates!**_

_**P.S. Since this is the last chapter before Halloween, I want to wish everybody a safe and happy Halloween! **_

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	15. Frenzy for the Power Star!

**_Chapter 15: Frenzy for the Power Star!_**

**_Somewhere in the Toxic Forest..._**

_Quietness..._

This is what the forest was like. The tall trees swayed slowly with the wind. The toxic river flowed silently through the forest. Wigglers were either sleeping in the bush or waddling around, looking for food. Pipes scattered around the forest area, all green, blue, yellow and red. It was peaceful.

Out of no where, Kamek slowly flew through on his broom, carefully avoiding the trees. Behind him, was Bowser Jr, hovering closely in a small hovercraft-like vehicle that resembled his dad's Koopa Clown Car. It was called the "Junior Clown Car". It was painted white with an innocent looking clown face in the front. On the bottom of the hovercraft, was a small, green propeller, which kept the Junior Clown Car floating.

Junior sighed out of boredom. "I'm tired! Why did we have to go through the Toxic Forest? It would be super _faster _if we flew_ above _the trees!"

Kamek looked back at the Koopaling. "Our mission from your dad was to spy on the Mario Bros. and see what they might be up to. If we flew above the forest, someone might see us and report about suspicious activity to the castle. We must stay undercover!"

The Koopaling shrugged. "I don't like staying undercover. It's boring!" He went through his Junior Clown Car's compartment and whipped out his magic paintbrush. He had gotten another one when he lost his back on Isle Delfino, after the Koop Troop failed to takeover the Shine Sprites.

The Magikoopa looked back at him. "What are you doing with your paintbrush?"

Junior pulled up his bib over his face, which had demonic teeth drawn on it "Oh nothing." He looked at his paintbrush.

_Once papa knows what my plan is, he'll totally be proud of me!_

Suddenly, a shout was heard."_Hey! Let us go!_"

It startled both Kamek and Junior. They jerked their heads to the right, which was where the shout was heard.

"What was that?" Junior asked. He hovered his Clown Car towards the shout. It sounded like a girl.

"Junior! Get back here!" Kamek whispered loudly. He had no choice but to follow the Koopaling.

They heard another shout, this time, it sounded like a boy. "_Mario! Luigi! Do something!_"

Kamek and Junior looked at each other, confused.

"What are the Mario Bros. doing out here?" Junior asked.

Kamek hovered ahead of the Koopaling. He slowly flew through a bush where the shouts were heard, but quickly backed up.

"Shh!" Kamek said to Junior. He hopped off his broom, holding onto it, and motioned Junior to follow. The Koopaling carefully parked the Clown Car onto the ground and hopped out of it, following Kamek into the bush. They both hid in it and peeked to what was happening on the other side of the bush.

To their left, they saw the Mario Bros. surrounded by a group of Scuttle Bugs. Up on the trees, were Yoshi and Amy, tied up in a string of web, hanging helplessly. Below them, was Sonic and Tails, covered up in sheets of webs struggling to get out.

"Whoa! Looks like they are in trouble." whispered Junior. "Hehe! This is going to be entertaining!"

* * *

Luigi was crouching behind his brother, terrified. He looked up at the Scuttle Bugs, who were staring at them menacingly, getting ready to attack them. "Mario! What do we do?"

Mario looked up at the Scuttle Bugs, giving them a serious face. "Hold on." He looked around them, hoping to see if they could use something to help them.

Suddenly, the Scuttle Bugs prepared to shoot out a few web balls at them. Luigi saw what they were about to do. "Mario! Look out!"

The bugs shot out the webs. Before they could stick them, both of the Mario bros. dodged in opposite directions. Mario jumped to the right, while Luigi rolled to the left. The Scuttle Bugs got mad and quickly detached from their webs and landed on the ground, ready for a ground attack.

Mario looked around him still trying to find anything to help them. Then, he spotted a floating question block floating nearby beside Sonic and Tails. He quickly looked at Luigi, who was cowering in a small bush. "Luigi! I need you to distract the Scuttle Bugs!"

Luigi widened his eyes. "What! No way!"

"It's the only way I can get to that question block!" Mario pointed to it. His brother looked to see the block floating. It took awhile for him to sum up the courage.

"Oh, fine! I'll do it." Luigi jumped out of the bush and waved at the Scuttle bugs. "Hey! Over here, freaky legs!"

The Scuttle Bugs turned towards Luigi, and suddenly their eyes turned red. they chased the green plumber, who ran away from them. Mario quickly took the chance to run up to the power block, but then a lone Scuttle bug dropped from the trees and landed right on top of the block. It was about to shoot out a string of web when Yoshi's tongue quickly snatched it and got swallowed by the dinosaur.

Yoshi gave a disgusted face. "Bleck! That tastes disgusting!" He looked back at the plumber. "Go, Mario! Stop the spider guys!"

Mario got near to the power block and jumped under it, bashing it open. Out grew a Fire Flower. The plumber jumped onto the block and snatched it.

Suddenly, his clothes started to flash. His red sweater and trademark hat changed to a bright white colour. His blue overalls turned into a crimson red colour. His eyes flared like flames, then turned to normal.

Mario was now Fire Mario!

Tails looked up to Mario, astonished. "Whoa! His clothes changed colour, just like when he used that Rock Mushroom before!"

Sonic was pretty impressed. "Hehe, alright! Now, get rid of those pesky bugs and get us out of this web!"

The plumber jumped down from the block. Suddenly, a trio of another group of Scuttle Bugs dropped down from the trees and surrounded Mario. This was no problem for him. He quickly did a throwing action to one of them, when suddenly a fireball was shot out of his hands. It knocked out the Scuttle Bug. Mario proceeded to do the same with the other two.

"Wow! He took them out with ease!" Amy exclaimed. Yoshi's stomach grumbled.

"I bet those fireballs taste yummy."

Luigi ran towards his brother, with the group of Scuttle Bugs chasing after him. He ran behind his brother, again. Mario quickly shot a barrage of fireballs at the group of Scuttle Bugs. They all tried to run away, but each got knocked out by a fireball.

"Phew! Thanks bro!" Luigi said. He wiped a sweat from his head.

"Nice job, Mario!" Sonic commented. "So, uh, can you get us outta this web now?

Mario nodded. He walked up to Sonic and put an open hand above the webs. A small, orange flame appeared on the palm of his hand. The webs started to disintegrate. Soon, Sonic was free. He fixed up his quills.

"Thanks, again." Sonic said. "I owe you big time."

Mario did the same to Tails. He looked up to Amy and Yoshi. It was going to be complicated to get them out of their webs.

"Oh, I have an idea!"

He told Sonic and Luigi to catch the two after he would throw a fireball at the webs that hung them. They both agreed. Mario threw a fireball into Amy's web first which cut off easily. Sonic caught her and untied the webs around her body.

Thanks, Sonic." said Amy, and gave him a small hug. Sonic was a little embarrassed.

Mario went on to Yoshi's web. He threw a fireball at it, which was also easily cut off. Luigi, who wasn't ready, got squished by Yoshi's body who landed right on him.

"Ow! That hurt!" complained the plumber.

"Hey! Thanks for making the landing comfy!" Yoshi exclaimed. "Now, can you remove these webs?"

* * *

Junior and Kamek, who witnessed the whole thing, were disappointed.

"Aww, man! They beat up the Scuttle Bugs!" Junior whined silently. "I was hoping they'd finished off the Mario Bros."

"Shh!" Kamek hushed. "Wait, they're talking about something important! Listen!"

They carefully listened to what the heroes had to say.

"Well, now that the bug problem is over, we need to get that Power Star!" said Sonic.

"Power Star? What Power Star?" asked Junior.

They watched as Sonic pointed up on the trees. There, was the Power Star, stuck in a big web high in the trees.

Kamek was amazed. "Wow! I've never seen a Power Star in a long time!"

"But why would they need it?" Junior asked. They continued to listen.

"Hey! This time, I'll get it!" Tails exclaimed. He quickly jumped and flew towards the Power Star with his two tails. Kamek was not going to allow this to happen.

"No matter! If they have that Power Star, they might use it's energy against Bowser!" The Magikoopa quickly pulled out his scepter. It had a golden-yellow shaft, with a red jewel mounted on the top. "I won't allow them to get it!"

In a swift motion, Kamek swung his wand. A green fireball shot out of it, flying towards the web containing the Power Star. Tails didn't notice the fireball. It hit the Scuttle web, burning it down and causing the Power Star to fall.

Tails was surprised. "Huh? What the-"

The Power Star fell down to the ground. Unfortunately, right under it, was a green pipe. It fell down into the pipe. The heroes were shocked.

"What just happened?" Luigi exclaimed.

"The Power Star just fell down in a pipe!" explained Yoshil.

"But how?" asked Sonic. "Who did it?"

"It couldn't have been Mario." Amy said. "He never shot a fireball, and the one that did get shot was green.

Kamek looked to Junior. "Hurry! We must go back to the castle and report this to your father and the evil doctor!" He got on his broom and flew to the direction to Bowser's Castle. Junior followed on his Clown Car.

The heroes we still shocked at what they saw.

"Oh no! The Power Star fell into the pipe." Luigi complained. "Now we have to go down there and fetch it!"

Sonic walked up to the pipe and looked down. "It sure seems dark down there." He looked back at the group. "No worries! I've been into the underground in the Mushroom Kingdom before. We'll find the Power Star in no time!"

"But don't you guys remember?" Yoshi reminded. "Luigi said that the pipes lead to the underground, which is hard to walk around in and dangerous!"

Mario put a hand on Yoshi's shoulder. "We have to get that Power Star. We're doing this to help Sonic and his friends." The dinosaur slowly nodded.

"I guess we have no choice." said Amy. "I'm just hoping nothing creepy is down there."

Sonic looked back to her, and gave her his trademark grin. "Don't worry, nothing down there can do you big harm. And besides" he walked up to her. "I'll protect you."

Amy smiled. Luigi whispered to his brother. "I think something is going on between them." Mario had no choice but to agree.

The heroes climbed down into the pipe, one by one. It was a short descent, but they soon found themselves in an underground tunnel of the Toxic Forest. The tunnel was a wide area and there was just enough light for them to see

"Hey! This isn't as bad as I thought!" Luigi said.

"Okie-dokie! We need to find that Power Star!" Mario reminded.

The heroes walk through the underground tunnel, close by each other. Small puddles of toxic liquid were scattered around. At first, it seemed like a normal underground tunnel, but as they progressed, they encountered a few small pipes in a wider part of the tunnel, which seemed weird to them.

"I wonder why all these pipes seem so close together." Sonic asked. He gave a small chuckle. "I wonder if anything lives in them."

"Hey! Look!" exclaimed Yoshi. He pointed in front of them. There, blocking their path, was a big, Piranha Plant. It looked different than a normal had a purple, spherical head. It contained a mouth with razor sharp teeth. What made if different was it had spikes along it's stem and was much bigger compared to other Piranha Plants.

"That looks-a like a Prickly Piranha Plant!" said Mario.

Tails carefully inspected it. "Hey! Look behind it! It has the Power Star!"

Near the ground behind the Prickly Piranha Plant, was the Power Star lying down, unmoved. The Prickly Piranha Plant realized what they were looking at and brutally snapped at them.

"How are we going to get that?" asked Amy. "That thing looks vicious."

"It'll be a piece of cake!" exclaimed Sonic. He was about to try and get the Power Star, when the Prickly Piranha Plant started snapping more dangerously. Suddenly, Piranha Plants popped out of the nearby warp pipes, all snapping at them. The heroes were surprised.

"Oh no! This is a lot of Piranha Plants!" shouted Tails.

Sonic shrugged, not intimidated. "Eh, what can they do?"

Out of nowhere, one of the Piranha Plants shot out a fireball. It hit the blue hedgehog on the back, causing him to jump from pain.

"Gah! That's hot stuff!" he rubbed his backside. "This plants sure mean business!"

Mario thought up a plan. "Yoshi, Amy, Tails! You take care of the Piranha Plants! Me, Sonic and Luigi will deal with the Prickly Piranha Plant!" The heroes nodded. Yoshi, Tails and Amy went to deal with the Piranha Plants in the pipe.

"Alright! This is going to be fun!" exclaimed Yoshi. He quickly pulled out his tongue and grabbed onto a Piranha Plant. He instantly swallowed it. "Yummy!"

Tails flew up above the Piranha Plants. "Time to taste some tails, Piranha Plants!" He quickly did a mid-air spin and attacked one of the Piranha Plants with his double tails. It knocked it back down the pipe. He quickly did it to a few more Piranha Plants.

Amy looked at one of the Piranha Plants, who was quickly snapping at her. "How am I going to get rid of these plant things if I don't have a weapon?" She thought for a moment. "Wait. If I'm lucky..." She scrambled into her pockets of her dress and pulled out her Piko Piko hammer. It had a red handle. The body of the hammer was red, while the edges used to hit things was yellow. It was about the same height as Amy. "Aha! I did have it the whole time!" She twirled her hammer a bit. "It's hammer time!"

The Piranha Plant tried to hide in it's pipe, but it was too late. Amy swung her hammer with all her might and knocked out the Piranha Plant back into it's pipe.

Yoshi and Tails, who just finished the last of the Piranha Plants, were amazed.

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Yoshi exclaimed. "Your hammer beats Mario and Luigi's wooden ones!"

Tails walked up to Amy. "I never knew you brought your Piko Piko Hammer."

"Neither did I." said Amy, putting her hammer back into her pocket.

Sonic, Luigi and Mario surrounded the Prickly Piranha Plant. The plant snapped at each of them, determined not to let them get the Power Star.

"Do you guys know the plan?" Mario reminded them. He was still in his Fire form. Luigi and Sonic nodded. "Okie-dokie! Let's-a go!"

Swiftly, Luigi ran in front of the Piranha Plant. "Hey, prickly! You can't hit me!" He waved butt in front of it. The Prickly Piranha tried to hammer him with it's head, but Luigi jumped out of the way. The Prickly Piranha Plant smashed it's head on the ground, stunning it for a bit.

Sonic instantly prepared a spin-dash. Mario jumped behind him and took out his wooden hammer. He swung it towards Sonic, as if hitting a golf ball. Sonic sped towards the Prickly Piranha Plants head and hit it with great force. The plant quickly recoiled it's head, then it dropped back on the ground, unconscious. The Prickly Piranha Plant suddenly poofed out of thin air.

"Well, uh, that was ironic." said Sonic.

Amy, Tails and Yoshi walked to the trio. "Hey! You defeated the Prickly Piranha Plant!" exclaimed Tails.

"Finally! Now we can get the Power Star!" Yoshi said happily. He went on an picked up the Power Star. It shined brightly.

"It's looks so amazing." commented Amy.

"Come on. We should get out of here now." said Mario.

The group was about to leave, when suddenly, Yoshi felt something grab his leg.

"Huh?" Yoshi down, seeing a vine wrapped around his left leg. It was red, with green polka-dots. It suddenly pulled him deeper into the tunnel. The dinosaur tightly held onto the Power Star. "Aah! Guys! Help!"

The heroes looked back, seeing their friend being dragged.

"Yoshi!" Tails shouted. He was the first to chase after. The group followed closely behind.

The vine pulled Yoshi deeper and deeper into the tunnel. It pulled him through twists and bends. Suddenly, it dragged him down into a large hole. Yoshi screamed.

"A-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa!"

The others stopped in front of the hole.

"What was that thing?" asked Amy.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it has Yoshi and the Power Star!" answered Sonic. "We've got to rescue them both."

The heroes jumped down the hole. It was a much longer descent than the pipe they took. Finally, the reached the end of the hole, which took them to an large, enclosed underground area. The area was in a shape of a large circle. The heroes had entered it from the roof. They landed near the edge of a huge rock platform that seemed to tip a bit when they landed on it.

"Why is this platform so wobbly?" asked Tails. He looked around them. They found out the rock platform was floating on a large pool of toxic liquid.

"Where are we anyway?" asked Luigi. His voice echoed. The heroes looked around them, seeing no exit, except from the hole they just took, which was on the roof of the enclosed area.

"Umm, can you guys help?" shouted someone. It sounded like Yoshi. They looked to the middle of the rock platform. There, was the dinosaur, sitting down tied up, again, in a few vines. Beside him, was a shock to the heroes.

It looked like a Piranha Plant, but only this time, it was much bigger than the Prickly Piranha Plant. It was much different than a regular Piranha Plant. It had an abnormally large head, with a ring of yellow petals around his head and a large, green mouth. It had a small body compared to it's head. It had large, leafy arms and a big, round bell and large belly button. It also had stubby legs and seemed to look like it was wearing red pants with white polka-dots.

Mario soon recognized the enemy. "Oh no! That's Petey Piranha!"

The Piranha Plant looked at the heroes. It then showed them it was holding the Power Star. It gave them an evil grin.

"Wow..." Luigi sighed. "This...looks...baaaaad."

_..._

_..._

_To be continued_

* * *

_Petey Piranha has both Yoshi and the Power Star! What will the heroes do now? Tune in next week!_

**_Author Notes: Finally done this chapter! FYI, I had to post this early Saturday morning because when I tried to go online Friday night, my internet didn't work. Don't worry, I'm still planning to post every Friday. Anyways, I thought that Amy would need some way to attack, then I remembered about her Piko Piko Hammer, so I decided this was a good time to write it up in the story. I also chose Petey Piranha to be sort of the "boss" of the Toxic Forest. It makes sense, since in the New Super Mario Bros. games, most Piranha Plants infest the Toxic worlds, and it would make sense for the king of them to live their. ___****Next chapter will be up next week. Thanks for the support everyone, and check out my profile for news and updates!**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	16. Petey Piranha Party!

**_Chapter 16: Petey Piranha Party!_**

_Toxic Forest, Underground Cave..._

Petey Piranha grinned fearlessly at the group of heroes. He held the Power Star tightly in his leafy hands. Sitting beside him, was Yoshi, binded up in his vines. The dinosaur struggled to get out of them. "Um, could you guys help me out of this?"

"Don't worry,_ Yoshi_! We'll save you!" assured Luigi. He was with the others, near the edge of the huge stone platform that floated in the toxic liquid. It filled all of the cave area that they were in.

Tails inspected Petey Piranha. He pointed to it with his thumb. "Boy, how are we going to deal with THAT thing?"

"He can't be too hard." insisted Sonic. "I mean, the Piranha Plants we fought earlier didn't give us any problems."

Unexpectedly, Petey Piranha quickly stuffed the Power Star right into his red polka-dotted pants. He did a small hop and shook the stone platform, giving off a big rumble. The heroes had to balance themselves to prevent from falling into the toxic liquid. Petey Piranha gave out a loud and mighty roar, which shook the cave area and echoed through the underground. Everyone had to cover their ears.

"Wow! That was loud!" Amy commented. "I hope he doesn't do that again!"

Sonic quickly stretched his legs. "Okay! It looks like this plant monster means business. It's time for a big boss beating!"

Petey Piranha gave out another loud, but short, roar. He quickly followed it up by flapping his leafy arms. He hopped into and started to float in the air.

Sonic was surprised. "Whoa! He can fly?"

"Believe me, there is a lot in our world that surprised us." said Luigi.

Petey floated above the heroes. He seemed to grow tired from flying. The plant instantly dove towards them, preparing to Ground Pound them. The heroes dodged just in time. The force rocked the stone platform above the liquid. This caused Petey Piranha to lose his balance and topple backwards onto his back. He flailed his arms and legs, struggling to get back on his feet.

Mario, who was still Fire Mario, took the opportunity. He jumped high into the air and initiated a Ground Pound onto Petey's belly. It gave critical damage to the plant. Mario jumped off his belly. Petey rolled onto his stomach and used his arms to get up. He slapped himself on the head, ashamed by his clumsiness. He looked back at the plumber, giving him an angry look.

"Guys! Someone go help Yoshi! I'm-a deal with Petey Piranha!" demanded Mario. Without warning, the plant swung it's huge head towards the plumber, intending to whack him. Mario quickly ducked, causing Petey to miss.

"Don't worry! We'll handle it!" Tails exclaimed. He, Luigi and Amy headed to Yoshi's aid. Sonic stayed with the plumber.

"I'll help you out, Mario!" Sonic said. "Besides, I can't let you have all the fun!"

Mario nodded back at the hedgehog. Petey Piranha gave both of them a menacing grin, and prepared to attack.

"Are you alright, Yoshi?" asked Luigi. He was the first one to help his dinosaur friend. He untied the vines and helped him up.

Yoshi stretched out his arms. "No big deal. The vines we're a little too tight though."

Just then, the stone platform started to shake again. It was from another one of Petey Piranha's stomps. The four heroes kept their balance.

"That Piranha thing has got to stop doing that!" Amy complained. She almost fell from the shock wave.

The four looked back to the fight. Mario and Sonic were dodging Petey's attacks. "Come on, we should go help them out!" Tails insisted."

The group nodded. Luigi hopped onto Yoshi's saddle. Amy took out her Piko Piko Hammer. Tails hovered into the air with his tails. They ran to their friends help.

Mario dodged another one of Petey's head swings. "Mammamia! I don't know what we did to make him angry!"

Their friends came to their aid. "Mario! Sonic! We're here to help you!" Luigi shouted.

Petey Piranha saw the six heroes surround him. He started to inhale deeply.

"Uh, what is he doing?" asked Amy.

"Oh no! Everyone! Run!" Mario demanded.

It was too late. In a split second, Petey shout out a whole pile of brown goop onto the ground. It got onto all the heroes, except Tails, who was hovering in the air. It had covered them from head to toe.

Sonic looked all over, blown away from what happened. "Huh? What is this stuff?"

Luigi started to wipe away the goop. "Yuck! It's all slippery and," he shook a bit. "it's cold!" Yoshi started to lick some of the goop off, but gave a sickening look.

Amy had the worst reaction out of all of them. "Eww! I can't believe that plant thing just threw up on us!" She dropped her hammer and looked disgustingly at the goop.

"Whoa!" Tails spoke. He looked at the goopy mess. It had covered most of the area near them. "Good thing I wasn't on the ground."

Petey Piranha couldn't help but to laugh. Mario gave an annoyed look.

"Mammamia! I can't believe he thinks this is even funny!" He took of his cap and wiped the goop off.

Petey Piranha stopped laughing. Suddenly, he took one of his leaf arms behind him, then swiftly whipped it in front of him, as if throwing something. A mini tornado formed in front of him. It had a mean-looking eyes on it's face.

"What is that thing?" Sonic asked, wiping away the last bit of goop off of him.

"It's a Tweester!" explained Luigi.

The Tweester spun wildly. It then started to careen into all of them, sending them flying back from the strong wind it made. They each landed with a big thud. Tails was lucky enough to dodge the dangerous tornado by flying near the roof area of the cave.

Luigi had fallen off of Yoshi. "Ow! I was hoping this wouldn't happen again!" He got back up. Yoshi was beside him. Luckily, he wasn't badly injured.

"Ugh. This is like the tenth time I've been thrown back by something." He shook his head. He looked to see where Petey Piranha was. He was walking towards them. The Tweester had died down. Yoshi quickly got Luigi to get back onto his saddle. "Come on, Luigi! Let's show this _flowered_ freak the awesome power of the green duo!"

Luigi got out his wooden hammer. "You've got it!"

Yoshi charged towards Petey Piranha, while Luigi held out his hammer, ready to attack with it. The boss plant hammered it's head towards them, but Yoshi Fluttered Jump, causing Petey to miss. The Piranha Plant swung it's head back up, a little dazed from the attack. Luigi suddenly jumped off of Yoshi, holding out his hammer high into the air. He swung it with a mighty force. It hit Petey on top of the head, causing him to roll forward and fall on his back. Yoshi, who was still hovering in the air by his Flutter Jump, was right directly above Petey Piranha. He used the opportunity to do a Ground Pound onto Petey's belly, causing great damage on him. Yoshi hopped off of him.

Luigi gave him a high five. "Haha! Nice one, Yoshi!"

Mario looked to the duo. He had already lost his Fire form from the Tweester. "Hey! Good job to both of-a you!"

Sonic was helping up Amy. "Are you okay, Ames?"

Amy wiped off some leftover goop on her boot. "Yeah, I'm fine." She looked up to Sonic. "Did you just call me Ames?"

The hedgehog had a worried expression. "Uh, yeah. You ain't mad, right?"

Before she could answer, Petey Piranha gave out a loud roar. The heroes had to cover up their ears again. The Piranha Plant was still on the ground. He slapped himself again, humiliated by his clumsiness. Before he got back up, he paused. He suddenly gave out a loud laugh. Unexpectedly, he reached into his pants pocket and took out the Power Star. The heroes were confused.

"What is he doing?" Yoshi whispered to Luigi. The plumber just shrugged.

Suddenly, Petey Piranha threw the Power Star into his mouth. The heroes were shocked.

"Mammamia! He ate the Power Star!" shouted Mario.

Petey Piranha stood up, with a satisfied look. He patted on his belly. It gave out a bright shine. Petey began to glow a yellow light. The energy of the Power Star was doing something to him. Something that wouldn't be good for the heroes. Petey Piranha gave out another earsplitting roar. Suddenly, he started to grow. He kept growing until he was three times his own height. You could say that only two of Bowser's full height would only be half of Petey Piranha's body height, not including the head. The heroes were shocked.

"Whoa! He's HUGE!" shouted Sonic.

Tails, who was still hovering near the cave's roof all this time, had to fly down to avoid touching Petey's head. He flew down to Sonic and Amy. "Wow! Did you see that? He grew at a gigantic size! He's almost as tall as this cave area!" He looked up at Petey. He was amazed, and at the same time scared.

Mario, Luigi and Yoshi ran to Sonic and his friends.

"Great! Now how are we going to handle this thing?" complained Luigi.

"Well, you know what they say," started Sonic. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

The Giant Petey Piranha looked down to them. To him, they looked like ants. Petey gave out a small chuckle, which was a loud as a megaphone to the heroes. The Piranha Plant suddenly stomped on the stone platform. The force was so strong, it broke the platform into pieces. The heroes had to hold onto the stone platforms. It separated them. Mario, Sonic and Amy on one platform, Luigi and Yoshi on another, and Tails standing on his own.

The toxic liquid started to wave uncontrollably. Right now, Petey Piranha was standing in the pool of toxic, causing no effect on him. The liquid reached up to just above his waist line.

Yoshi was on all fours. "Wah! This is crazy!"

"We need-a to get outta here!" shouted Mario, crouching to keep his balance on the rocking platform.

Sonic looked up. He saw the hole they took to get into the cave area Petey Piranha inhabited. It was on the roof. "Quick! Tails! We need you to fly us out of here!"

The fox looked up, shocked. "What! But, I can't carry all five of you out of here!"

"You have to try!" the hedgehog encouraged.

Tails thought for a moment. _Oh no! Everyones safety depends on me! If I don't do it, then..._

Suddenly, Luigi and Yoshi started to scream. Their platform started to sink. The two held onto each other.

"Gah! Help us!" shouted Luigi.

Tails saw his friends in trouble. He suddenly got the courage to fly over to them. "You guys! Hang onto me!"

Yoshi was the first to grab onto Tails' legs. Luigi grabbed onto Yoshi's legs. Just as the stone platform sunk, Tails carried them off it. The went to Mario, Sonic and Amy's platform. Mario grabbed onto Luigi's legs, while Sonic grabbed Mario's. He carried Amy beside him.

"Tails! Head up to the hole on the roof we entered earlier!" Sonic demanded.

The fox looked up, seeing where the hole Sonic was talking about. He used all his strength to carry his friends out of the cave area. Along the way, Petey Piranha tried to swat them down with his leaf arms, but kept on missing. Tails carried them into the hole and flew them up. It was a long ascent, but they finally made it back into the underground tunnels they were in earlier. Tails let go and hovered back onto the ground, exhausted. Sonic went up to him.

"Good job, buddy, but it's not over yet." He pointed to the tunnel exit. "We've still got to get out of here."

Suddenly, they heard a loud, rumbling noise. It came from the cave area they were in. Luigi reluctantly looked down at the hole. He went went wide-eyed. He saw as Petey was climbing up the hole with his leaf hands. He chomped away at the whole, making it bigger from him to climb through.

"Mammamia! HE'S CLIMBING UP THE FREAKIN' HOLE!"

"But, how!" Amy asked.

"Never mind that!" Mario said. "We need to get out of here!"

The heroes rushed towards the underground entry pipe. They passed the pipes where they fought the group of Piranha Plants earlier. They reached the warp pipe, when they heard another one of Petey Piranha's loud roards.

"Quick! Into the pipe!" Sonic demanded.

One by one, the group of heroes jumped into the pipe. They were out of the underground and were back in the area of the Scuttle Bug's nest. They ran from the pipe. Behind them, Petey Piranha erupted from the ground, smash away the warp pipe into the pieces. He climbed out of the ground. He had made a big hole from where he was, largely due to his head. The Giant Petey towered over the Toxic Forests trees. He chased after the heroes.

Luigi was riding on Yoshi. Sonic carried Amy, bridal style, while Mario held onto Tails legs. They were hovering near them. The heroes did their best to run away, but could not shake Petey off their tail.

"What are we going to do?" asked Luigi. "Wherever we going, Petey's going to follow! He won't stop until he's flattened us like pancakes, or eat us like jellybeans!"

While they were running, Mario noticed a Question Block floating near them. He stopped Tails. "Hey! A Question Block!" He pointed at it.

"It's just a Question Block, Mario! We need to get out of here!" Tails reminded.

"We need that Question Block!" Mario insisted. "Please Tails!"

Tails hesitated. The others were already ahead, but he knew that Mario was onto something. He flew towards the Question Block. It floated all by itself. Mario let go of Tails. The fox hovered back to the ground. Mario jumped and hit the Question Block. Out popped out a Fire Flower. Mario grabbed it, but didn't use it.

The fox was confused. "Um, how is shooting fireballs going to help us stop a 40 foot plant monster?"

Mario walked up to Tails and held out the Fire Flower towards him. "We know that my Fire abilities won't be enough. But if _you_ use them, it could stop Petey."

Tails was shocked. He stepped back a bit and shook his head. "No, I-I couldn't do it, not me. And besides, what makes me so special?"

"Sonic had told me that you've used these things called _"Chaos Emeralds"_ back in your world to transform into these super forms. I have a feeling you could harness this Fire Flower's energy and use it with greater power than even I could."

"But, why can't Sonic do it?" Tails said. They heard a stomp from Petey Piranha. He was getting closer.

"Mammamia! We-a don't have anytime! Please Tails! Just use it!"

Tails began to hesitate once again. He slowly nodded. He held out his hand in front of the Fire Flower. The power-up disappeared. Tails had absorbed the energy of it. He felt a small tingle around his body. Suddenly, his fur started to flash a bright color. It changed from a yellow color to an orange-reddish color. Tails suddenly felt like a flame had light up in him. He had a boost of courage come up into him.

Tails was now Fire Tails!

The fox inspected himself. "Wow! My fur! It's a different color!" He was amazed at himself.

The others appeared behind them, looking for them. Sonic was the first to speak.

"Hey, guys, we looked behind us and your were-" he saw his friend had changed. "Whoa, Tails! You look...different."

"His fur! It's all, red." Amy added in. "But...why?

"I used the power of the Fire Flower." explained Tails. "And now I'm in Fire form."

Luigi looked over at him. "You know, that's kind of a nice shade for orange for you. Or red. Whatever it's supposed to be."

Suddenly, Petey Piranha was behind them. He was looking down at them through the trees. He gave out a mighty roar. It echoed through the land.

Tails looked up at him. "You guys! Get to a safe place! I'll handle him!"

The others agreed. They all went to a nearby tree to hide. Sonic gave his friend a thumbs-up.

"Good luck, Tails. We'll be counting on you." He caught up to the others.

The group of heroes watched as the battle between Fire Tails and the Giant Petey Piranha began to unfold.

* * *

The red fox looked up at the towering plant monster. "Alright! It's time for me to stop you on your rampage!"

Petey Piranha gave out a mighty roar. He was not going to let a puny fox stop him.

Tails flew up through the trees and into the air. He was really small compared to the head of Petey Piranha. The plant gave out another mighty roar. It echoed throughout the land. Tails wasn't intimidated. The Fire Flower gave him the strength he needed to face the plant monster. But he also knew, he had to do this to save his friends.

Petey Piranha raised his leaf arms up. Suddenly, out came two large vines that popped out of the ground and rose to him. They were as tall as him. Tails flew towards Petey Piranha. One of the vines tried to swat him, but missed. Before Tails could land an attack on Petey, the plant monster gently blew air towards him. To the fox, it was like a strong gust of wind was blowing at him. Tails was blown back a few feet.

Tails thought for a moment. He remembered the powers he was given. He glanced at his hand. A small fireball appeared at the palm. He quickly thrust it towards Petey Piranha like a baseball. It hit the plant dead center of the forehead. Petey just shook it off, like nothing happened. Tails decided to fly around him and shoot fireballs at him, one after the other. It seemed each one of them did little effect.

"There's gotta be another way!" said Tails. Petey Piranha inhaled, preparing to spit out his brown goop. Tails thought quickly. Suddenly, a fireball appeared in his hand again. This time, he charged it up. The fireball grew bigger and bigger every second. When it got to full power, it was big as his body. Right before Petey was about to spit, Tails threw the large fireball right into Petey's mouth. The plant swallowed it and reacted badly to coughed out black puffs of smoke.

_Now is my chance! _thought Tails. "Okay! Like Sonic would say, 'Time to spice things up!'"

Tails instantly powered up. He unexpectedly released flames over his fur, which surprised him a bit. "Huh?" He looked at himself. "My body, it's on fire, yet I don't feel pain." He decided to take the opportunity. He flew towards Petey and charged at him at full speed. He hit the plant monster dead center of the forehead, causing critical damage. Petey Piranha stepped backwards. It seemed like he was going to trip back, but he regained his balance.

Petey Piranha acknowledged his clumsiness again by slapping himself on the forehead. Tails flew back to where he started. The fire on his body died out. "Wow! That was awesome! I've got to give that move a name!"

Pete Piranha gave out another mighty roar. This time, he summoned a big Tweester, this time the size of himself. It was huge. The Tweester spun dangerously around the forest and eventually careened towards Tails. The fox quickly dodged it. The Tweester kept on going, eventually dying out.

Tails taunted the plant monster. "Haha! Didn't catch me!"

Petey Piranha pointed at him. One of the vines quickly lunged at Tails. This caught him by surprise. The vine wrapped around Tails. The fox struggled to get free, but it was no use.

_Oh oh, his wasn't what I had in mind! _Tails thought.

The vine was moving towards Petey's mouth. The plant was going to eat the fox.

Thinking quickly, Tails put his engulfed his body back onto fire. The vines slowly burned off, causing him to be free. Tails quickly flew away from Petey's mouth. The plant was angry and gave out another loud roar.

"It's time to finish you off!" announced Tails. The fox flew circle around Petey. He was still covered in flames. Tails flew faster and faster around Petey. The plant could hardly keep up. Suddenly, a big vortex of fire covered around him. Petey's whole body caught on fire. Tails stopped spinning around the plant. He watched as Petey cried in in pain. His body covered in fire. He started to cough. One of those coughs came out the Power Star. It floated in the air. Suddenly, Petey Piranha began to shrink. He became smaller each second, he was still covered in fire. He grew back to his regular size and fell backwards. The flames died out. on him.

The fire that covered Tails died down also. "I...can't...believe...I did it." The fox was exhausted. He looked in front of him. The Power Star was floating in the air, spinning gracefully, shining out sparkles around itself. Tails slowly flew to it and grabbed it.

"I've got it. I've got the Power Star!"

Tails flew back to the ground. His friends ran up to him, congratulating him.

"Wow! That was amazing!" exclaimed Yoshi, doing a Flutter Jump to celebrate.

"Good job, buddy! I knew we could count on you!" congratulated Sonic. He gave his friend a pat on the back.

"You really showed that Petey guy a thing or two, Tails!" Amy added in.

Mario gave him a thumbs up. "It just goes to show you, size doesn't mean anything."

"Thanks guys." Tails said. He was a little embarrassed by the attention.

"So, what happened to Petey Piranha? asked Luigi.

The heroes looked back to where Petey Piranha was. There he was, lying on the ground, apparently sleeping. It was obvious, because you could hear the loud snores it made and the bubble that expanded from his nose.

"After all that, all it can do now is sleep." said Luigi. "Boy, this guy is weird."

"We better leave it like that." Sonic whispered. "I never want to get in another tussle with this guy _ever _again."

The heroes slowly walked away. The exited the Toxic Woods and boarded back onto the Chop Chop Helicopter, which was parked nearby. They all climbed in and got into their seats. Mario started the engine and flew the helicopter.

"So, where are we going next, bro?" asked Luigi.

"To Professor E. Gadd's Garage." answered Mario. "We'll give him the Power Star and see what he can do with it to help Sonic and his friends return to their world."

By the time Tails sat back in his seat, his fur changed back into it's bright yellow color.

"Aww, I liked it better when you looked red." sighed Yoshi. "Oh well, I guess it wouldn't last _forever_, anyway."

Tails nodded. Suddenly, he felt a small tingle back on his right hand. He removed his glove to check what it was. The sight surprised him.

On the back of his hand, was a small, black mark on it. It was the shape of a Fire Flower. Tails was confused.

"Hmm. That wasn't there before..."

.

..

...

_To be continued_

* * *

_Looks like our heroes have finally gotten the first Power Star! And Tails seems to have mastered the Power of the Fire Flower! But what does that mark on the back of his hand mean? Tune in next week for answers!_

**_Author Notes: Finally got this chapter done! Hope you guys enjoy it! It's pretty long. I've tried to make it really epic. Sorry for the small delay, but somehow part of the chapter got deleted, so I had to retype it again. I'll be expanding my deadlines to Friday nights/Saturday afternoons. I don't want to disappoint you guys if I don't post a chapter up on Friday. Definitely expect it to be posted the next day. I've finally come to the point of giving one of the Sonic characters a Mario Power-Up! I thought it would be cool for Tails to use the Fire Flower. It definitely fits in the term, "FireFox". I also gave Tails a little more abilities than what Mario and Luigi could do with it. But don't worry, they can do things 'similar' things with the Fire Flower like Tails. Also, don't think Sonic and Amy will be missing out on the Power-Ups! Next chapter will be up next Friday/Saturday. Thanks for the support and check out my profile for news and updates about Mario and Sonic!_**

**_P.S. If you want to have a glimpse of what Fire Tails looks like, I'll put him up as my avatar real soon._**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega._  
_**


	17. Special Delivery!

**_Chapter 17: Special Delivery!_**

**_Boo Woods, Prof E. Gadd's Garage..._**

The door to Professor E. Gadd's door opened up. You could hear the gears turning inside it. The heroes watched as it opened. They entered the garage. Inside, was an elevator. The heroes climbed into it, and the doors closed behind them.

"It's good to see the professor again." said Sonic. He pushed the 'down' button on the elevator. "I wonder how he's doing with the dimension machine."

"He's probably finished it by now." commented Luigi. "Gadd_ really _knows how to make machines!"

"I've gotta get a few pointers from him." Tails confessed. "His machines look really cool. It could help me improve on my own inventions."

The elevator made a ding noise, signalling it had made it to the lab floor. The doors slided opened and in front of the heroes, was the inventions room. Gadd had cleaned up a bit. All of the professor's gadgets and gizmos were hanging up on the wall. The heroes walked into the room, wondering where the professor was.

"_Hello! _E. Gadd!" yelled out Yoshi. There was no answer. "Gadd! Where _are_ you!"

Suddenly, the door to the right opened up. Gadd entered the room. His clothes were covered in oil. He had a small, white towel with him. He waved to the heroes. "Why, hello there! I was wondering when all of you would arrive."

"Hey there, professor!" Sonic greeted back. He looked at Gadd's messy clothes. "It seems like you've been working a lot."

Gadd nodded. "I actually have." He motioned them to follow him. He led them through his workshop area. He took them through another door in the workshop. It led them into a big, steel room. There were a few air vents that kept the room ventilated. The only thing in the room was a huge machine that was placed right in the middle.  
The machine was circular in shape. It had a big, mechanical sliding door in the front, with Gadd's face painted on the front. That was his signature logo that he placed on all of his inventions. The logo was painted white, while the whole machine was painted a cobalt blue. On top of the machine, was a large, sphere bulb sitting on it. Wires connected to the machine. They connected to a complicated control panel that stood right beside the machine. There was a screen and buttons on the panel. The heroes were amazed by the site.

"Whoa! What is that?" Yoshi asked.

"It's the dimension machine!" announced Gadd. "I told you I would start working on it."

"You made it that fast?" asked Amy. She was stunned. She looked at Tails, who was struck with awe. He was really impressed by the design of the machine.

"This looks incredible!" Tails exclaimed. He went closer to the machine, inspecting every inch of it. "I haven't seen an invention as extraordinary as this!"

Sonic chuckled. "There goes the inventor side in Tails!" He looked back to the professor. "So, uh, does this machine-thing have a name or sometihng?"

Gadd nodded again. "Of course." He turned and raised his hands towards the machine. "I call this, the _Gadd Dimension Teleportificationtron!_"

The group turned to the professor, confused by the name.

"That's a pretty long name for a machine." Luigi said. "And is Teleportificationtron even a word?"

"Well, it sure is different." Mario added. "So, professor. Does your machine actually work? It doesn't seem to be turned on."

Gadd raised a finger. "Of course it will work. But for a machine to teleport living beings into another dimension, it requires a monstrous amount of energy. So..." He held out his hand. "Do you have the Power Star?"

"I have it." Tails answered. He fidgeted through his pocket, and took out the Power Star. It shone brightly in the fox's hands. He gently passed the Power Star to Gadd. The professor was amazed.

"Wow! What an amazing artifact you have gotten. It must have taken you great effort to retrieve it." He walked to the control panel of the Gadd Dimension Teleportificationtron. "How did you heroes find a way to get one?"

"Heh! It wasn't easy!" started Sonic. "The Power Star was hidden in this Toxic Forest! We had to go through giant worms, ferocious plants, toxic rivers. It was a blast!"

"And it was _hard!" _Luigi added. "I do not want to go back there anymore!" he crossed his arms, making a serious expression on his face.

The professor didn't hear Luigi's last comment, since he was too focused on the machine. He got to the control panel and opened up a small compartment under it. It looked like a battery socket for the machine. He placed the Power Star in it. The star still shone brightly. It started to spin slowly in the battery socket. Gadd closed the compartment and fiddled around on the control panel. He pressed a big, red button. The Gadd Dimension Teleportification booted up and started making this charging noise. The bulb on the machine made a dim light. The heroes were amazed at what they were watching.

"I can't believe it!" said Tails. "It's actually working!"

It seemed like the machine was working, but suddenly, it made these loud banging noises. Loud screeching came from it, causing everyone to cover their ears. The machine immediately shut off. The bulb lost it's light.

Sonic was confused. "It that supposed to happen?"

"Hmm, just as I thought." Gadd suddenly spoke. He was looking on the control panel's screen. It had the statistics of the Dimension Teleportificationtron. It showed a small, 3D picture of a battery. Right beside it, was the amount of power the machine had. It only showed 12%. "The machine does not have enough power. It will be impossible to send Sonic and his friends back to their world."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Amy asked. She had a worried expression.

"The only way for the machine to work, is to get more Power Stars." explained the professor. He looked back to the group, waiting for their answer.

Sonic gave a grin. "No problem! We can get another Power Star. Right guys?"

Tails gave him a thumbs up. "You bet!"

Mario nodded back to him. "Of course! We'll find those Power Stars ad help you get back to your world."

Luigi sighed. "Well, if you say so..." Yoshi wagged his tail beside him, excited they would go on another adventure and still spend more time with Sonic and his friends.

Gadd nodded to the group. "That's it! I like your perserverance."

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait until night falls." Sonic sighed. "Man, but it's only late afternoon! What are we going to do until then?"

The group thought for a moment. Then Gadd spoke up. "Oh! I think I have an errand for you heroes that you can do if you'd like." He led them back into his workshop area. He walked up to his desk and opened a cupboard. He took out a small, rectangular package. He closed the cupboard and showed the heroes the package.

"I had a call from young Toad. She wanted me to customize something for her. I've already finished it and just need to deliver it back." He looked up to the heroes. "Would you mind delivering it to them?"

Mario was the first to speak. "Of course!" He took the package from Gadd and looked over it. "Where do we have to deliver it, professor?"

"The Mushroom City." Gadd answered. "They will be waiting in the Flower Concert Hall on 43rd Street."

"A concert hall? In the Mushroom City?" Amy repeated. "That sounds like a place I want to see!"

"Alright! Then it's settled." Sonic exclaimed. "We're going to the Mushroom City!"

The group cheered. Before they left, Gadd decided to give them one more thing. He went back to his desk and took out something that looked like a rectangular portable device. It was pretty big  
in Gadd's hand. It was painted an aqua cyan color. He showed it to the heroes.

"In my spare time, I've invented something that could be useful on your Power Star hunting." explained Gadd. He opened up the device. It had the appearance of a handheld video game system. It had two dual screens and buttons on the side. The part that had the top dual screen was color black.

"Hey! This thing looks pretty familiar." Luigi commented.

"I call it, the Gadd DS Horror!" announced the professor. "The DS means Double Screen."

"That's, uh, complicated name." Sonic pointed out. "So what does it do?"

"It can do a lot of things." Gadd explained. "It has wifi to the internet, east-to-read maps of the entire Mushroom World, video and audio chat, has it's own camera that can record videos and take pictures, a flash light and has a long lasting battery. " He showed the heroes the apps the Gadd DS Horror had. He opened the device up. The menu appeared on the two screens, showing the functions of the Gadd DS Horror. The double screen was also touch sensitive, so Gadd used his hands to scroll around the menu. The heroes were astounded by the device.

"I've also made a Power Star Searcher." Gadd said. He scrolled to one of the apps. It's picture was a Power Star. Under it, was the name of the app. 'Power Star Searcher'. "This function can help detect if there is a Power Star nearby."

"Umm, does it have a Boo Tracker?" asked Luigi.

Gadd nodded. "Yup. Just like the Gameboy Horror." This comment relieved Luigi.

"Wow. This thing really reminds me of my Miles Electric back at our world." Tails said. "Only, this device is a little bit smaller."

Gadd closed the DS Horror. He held it towards Tails. "I would like you to carry it."

Tails was surprised. "Me? But, why?"

"You are really into technology, so it would fit for you to be the one to have the electrical device." Gadd said.

Tails smiled. He happily took the Gadd DS Horror. "Thank you." He looked at the Gadd DS Horror, then to his hand. He remembered the Fire Flower mark. "Umm, Professor Gadd? Can I get you to look at something for me?" Gadd nodded. Tails put the DS Horror in his pocket. He then took off his glove and showed the back of his hand to the professor. There, was the mark of the Fire Flower.

"Is that, a Fire Flower mark?" Luigi asked.

"What's it doing on your hand, Tails?" Sonic wondered.

The fox shrugged. "It appeared after the effects of the Fire Flower wore off." He looked to the professor. "Do you know what this means?"

Gadd scratched his chin. "I think I do, but first, I must scan it." He took Tails to his DNA scanner, which was conveniently on top of his desk. Information appeared on the small screen that was beside the scanner. Gadd carefully looked over it. "Hmm, it seems you have the energy of the Fire Flower flowing in your body."

"Is that bad?" asked Amy. "Is Tails going to be alright?"

Gadd nodded. "I assure you he is."

"Well, what does it mean, then?" asked Tails.

"My theory is, since you're from another world, the power-ups in the Mushroom Kingdom will affect you differently than to those who are native here. In your case, the power of the Fire Flower has been stored inside you, which means, you will _not_ be able to use any other power-ups, except the Fire Flower."

Mario kind of understood what he was saying. "I think I know what you mean, professor. But how come when me and Luigi have a power-up, we can change forms instantly right after grabbing another power-up?"

"As I've said before, Sonic and his friends are from a different world, so they will affect them differently." Gadd repeated.

"I understand know." Tails said. "Thanks for clearing it all up now."

Gadd nodded, which meant 'You are welcome' to him. "Well, you have a package to deliver! Hurry up!"

The heroes said goodbye to Gadd and left his garage. They got into the elevator. Sonic pressed the 'up' button. The elevator doors closed on them. Their new objective, was to deliver Gadd's package in the Mushroom City...

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Throne Room..._**

It was another, hot afternoon in Bowser's Castle. The evil Koopa King was pacing in his throne room, right in front of his chair. He was thinking up a plan that would destroy the Mario Bros. and his new friends.

"Grr...my brain doesn't seem to be working today!" Bowser said. He scratched his forehead. "I _need_ to think of a plan that will annihilate those _Stupid _Mario Bros! And their new furry friends!" The Koopa King sat down in his throne chair. He leaned his head on his hand. Suddenly, the doctor came into his throne room, holding a blue print.

"Koopa King! I think I've come up with the most deadliest machine ever!" assured Eggman. "It will _surely _stop Sonic and his friends!"

Bowser wanted to see what Eggman had come up with. He stood up from his throne. "Well, what are you waiting for? _Show me!"_

The doctor quickly ran up the throne steps. He held the blue print in the air, showing Bowser the design for his new machine. The Koopa King carefully studied the complicated blue print.

"Hmph. I like the idea." complimented Bowser. "But I don't think it will do." The Koopa King climbed back into his throne room. Eggman was dumbfounded.

"W-w-what? What are you talking about? This machine will definitely defeat Sonic and Mario! It's full proof!"

Bowser disagreed. "Look, you've told me that you've made thousands of machines in the past, right?" The doctor nodded back. "Well, what exactly happened _after _you tried using them against Sonic."

"Ha! Easy question!" exclaimed Eggman. "They were...destroyed."

The Koopa King nodded. "And do you even wonder _why _it happens?" Eggman didn't answer to that. Bowser stomped his foot. "It's because you're designs leave yourself too open for attacks!" He swiped the blue print out of the doctors hand and reviewed it. "Come on! Who places a cockpit so close to the ground? Anyone can climb onto it and attack you! You gotta protect yourself!" He threw the blue print on the ground.

The doctor was angered from what Bowser had done. "Hey! Don't you even dare criticize _my _designs! I don't see you coming up with anything!"

Bowser gave out a loud roar. It shook the castle. He turned towards Eggman. "Don't you see me pacing around in my throne room? I'm trying to think of a plan that will totally destroy those pesky plumbers and that horrid hedgehog of yours!"

The two villians stared angrily at each other for awhile. They both calmed down, then sighed.

"Sorry, for the yelling." apologized Bowser. "I guess I was too stressed out from all this frustration." He sat back down onto his throne.

Eggman picked up his blue print. "I apologize too. I doesn't help if we just holler at each other." He looked back on his blue print. "You may be right about the whole design thing though. It could use a bit more tweaking." He rolled up the blue print and put it in his pocket.

Suddenly, Bowser Jr. and Kamek ran into the throne room, panting. Kamek was the first to talk. "Your Gnarliness! We have spotted the Mario Bros. and their friends." He tried to catch his breath.

Bowser was eager to know. "What are they up to then?"

Junior hopped up and down. "They were in the Toxic Forest! And they were finding Power Stars!"

Eggman was curious. "Power Stars? What are Power Stars?"

"Just some magical stars from space that give you _awesome _power and energy!" Junior answered. "Anyway, Mario and Sonic and their friends were in the Toxic Forest! They beat up all these Scuttle Bugs so they could get to this Power Star!"

Bowser lisened carefully. "And so? Did they get it?"

Kamek shook his head. "Right before their fox friend could retrieve it, I shot the Power Star down into a nearby pipe." He waved his wand around. "We fleed right after that."

The Koopa King thought for a moment. "So you're telling me that you kind of _left_ the Power Star for them to possess?"

Junior and Kamek looked at each other, then nodded back at the Koopa King.

Bowser shook his head in his hand. "_WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST STEAL THE POWER STAR AWAY FROM THEM INSTEAD OF SHOOTING IT DOWN A PIPE THEY COULD ENTER?" _His voice boomed through the castle. Everyone except the Koopa King covered their ears.

There was a long silence in the room. Then Junior spoke up. "Umm, I _guess _we didn't think that one through."

Bowser smited his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Do you know what this means? The Mario Bros. and Sonic could use the power of the Power Stars against _us!" _

_"_That doesn't sound good." Eggman added in.

The Koopa King pointed to the door. "Junior! Kamek! I want you to go back and spy on Mario and his buddies again! I want you to get that Power Star so they won't use it!"

Junior and Kamek nodded.

"No problem, Papa!" assured Junior. He ran out the throne room and headed to the airship room, where he parked his Junior Clown Car.

"Kamek! Don't dissapoint me this time!" Bowser demanded. Kamek nodded and got out his broom. He rode on it and flew out of the throne room.

The Koopa King tried to relax on his throne room. Eggman walked down the throne steps. Bowser noticed him. "Where are you going?"

The doctor looked back to Bowser. "I'm heading back to my quarters to think up a new design for our _'doomsday_' machine."

Bowser chuckled. "Heh, I like the name of that. We should use it as our codename for the machine!"

Eggman ignored the comment and continued for the door. The Koopa King groaned.

"Boy, it's hard to get a laugh from _anyone _around here..."

* * *

_**Mushroom City...**_

It was about night time when our heroes arrived in the city. The Mushroom City was busy during the night. All the buildings and neon signs were lit up. Cars, trucks and the Wiggler Buses were cruising around the streets. The civilians of the city were walking in and out of buildings and having conversations with each other. The heroes looked around the city, amazed at it's liveliness. They were at the corner of 43rd Street and Bullet Avenue.

"Wow! This city is so bright and big!" complimented Sonic. "It really reminds me of Empire City, back in our world."

"It really does." Amy added. "Ooh! I wonder if they have a shopping mall here!"

Luigi looked to his brother, who was holding Gadd's package in his hand. "So, bro. Are you sure the princess has the Lookout Toad watching out for the next Power Star?"

Mario nodded. "Don't-a worry, Luigi. Princess promised me she has." He looked to where Sonic and his friends were. Sonic and Amy were admiring the beauty of the city, while Tails was playing around with the functions on his DS Horror. "Hey! Sonic! Why don't you, Amy and Tails explore the city for a bit while me, Luigi and Yoshi deliver the package?"

"Are you sure about that?" Sonic asked. "We can help you if you want, ya know."

Mario shook his head. "No need for it! You deserve the break. And besides, we want you to enjoy you're stay in the Mushroom World." He pointed to the right of them. "There is the Mega Mushroom Mall down the road there. It has tons of stuff you guys might like."

Sonic nodded his head. "Thanks Mario. We'll come by at the concert hall when we're done." He waved back at them as he, Amy and Tails walked to the mall.

"The Mega Mushroom Mall?" repeated Luigi. "I remember that mall! Oh man! We have to go back there again! Can we, Mario?"

"Okie-dokie, Luigi." Mario answered. "We will,_ after _we deliver the package."

"Okay..." said Luigi. He looked to Yoshi, who was looking up at one of the city's big screen televisions that hung on the side of the buildings. "Hey! Yoshi! Let's-a go!"

Yoshi ran up to them. "So, where are we going?"

"To the Flower Concert Hall." Mario reminded. He waited until the street was safe to cross. Luigi and Yoshi followed him.

Unaware to them, a dark figure was watching them, high atop the buildings. The figure gave out a short laugh.

"_They will both pay for what they've done in the past..._"

.

..

...

_To be continued_

* * *

_Mario and Sonic are now in the Mushroom City! But an unknown figure watches them from the top of the buildings. What could happen next? And will Bowser and Eggman think of a plan to finally defeat their long-time enemies? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_

**_Author Notes: Hooray! Finished Chapter 17! There isn't much action in here, except for Eggman and Bowser screaming at each other More will be coming soon! I had to think of some sort of device that Mario and Sonic could carry around with them to communicate with Professor E. Gadd. I thought I'd use the 'Nintendo DS' design, since in the past, Nintendo has used the Gameboy Color and the Gameboy Advance SP. It's kind of obvious when you think about it. Don't be worried that Tails won't be able to use any power-ups other than the Fire Flower. That's why Sonic and Amy are here for! I've already come up for which power-ups they'll use. It will be a pleasant surprise! Anyway, the next chapter will be up Friday/Saturday! Thanks for the support and check my profile for updates on my fanfictions!_**

**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**_  
_


	18. Night in the Mushroom City!

**_Chapter 18: Night in the Mushroom City!_**

**_Mushroom City, 43rd Street..._**

The colossal metropolis was bright and alive in the night. It had the spirit of any other big city. You could hear the loud honking and the revving engines of the cars. The stop lights switched from red, to green, signalling traffic to go by. Lights shined from every direction, coming from building windows to high neon signs, headlights of cars to street lamps. Mushroom city had a whole bunch of streets that twisted and turned between the high rise buildings.

Right now, the Mario Bros, including Yoshi, were walking down 43rd street. They split up from Sonic and his friends, who were heading for the Mega Mushroom Mall. Mario, Luigi and Yoshi were going to the Flower Concert Hall to deliver a small parcel for Professor E. Gadd. They were a few buildings away from the concert hall.

"So, _Mario_? What do you think is in the package Professor Gadd gave us?" Luigi asked. He was walking beside his brother, while Yoshi was following right behind them, gazing at the numerous billboards placed around the city.

"I'm-a not sure, Luigi." Mario answered.

"Oh. Okay." Luigi said. He wanted to know what it was. He gently elbowed Mario. "Hey, bro! Let's take a sneak peek of the package. Can we?"

"Luigi!" Mario shouted. He shook his head to his brother. "I'm-a should remind you this is someone else's package. It wouldn't be nice to see what the item was without their permission."

Luigi lowered his head, disappointed. "I guess your right. Sorry bro."

"Now that's being a good older brother!" Yoshi complimented. He was listening to their conversation.

The three walked by a group of high-school Toads. They were chatting about a movie that they had just watched. Yoshi had heard what they were talking about.

The dinosaur tapped on Luigi's shoulder. "Hey, Luigi? I just heard those Toads talking about this cool, action film they watched. And I was just wondering..."

Luigi smiled, knowing what Yoshi was going to ask. "You want to watch the movie, don't ya?"

Yoshi grinned, then nodded excitedly. "Can we?"

The plumber chuckled. "Once we deliver the package and get back with Sonic and his friends, will see if we have time to watch the movie."

"Okay!" Yoshi exclaimed. He wagged his tail.

The three finally arrived at the entrance to the Flower Concert Hall. It raised up to five stories high. The concert hall had a big fleet of stairs that led up to the entrance doors. The roof of the concert hall was shaped in a circular from. Columns were placed in front of the entrance doors. Fire Flower statues were placed on top of the columns. Words that were crafted from metal hung above the entrance doors that read, 'Flower Concert Hall.' They were painted a gold color. The building itself was painted in maroon. A big, rotating glass door was placed as the entrance. Windows were situated right beside it, which stretched to both ends of the building

The Mario Bros, and Yoshi, were amazed by the concert hall.

"Wow." Luigi gasped. "This concert hall looks _so_ beautiful!"

"And it's so big!" Yoshi added in. "Come on, let's go!"

The Mario Bros. and Yoshi both walked up the fleet of stairs. Various Toads were also walking up and down the stairway. The heroes made it to the top and headed to the entrance, which resembled a big, glass castle door. They entered through the doorway and found themselves in the lobby. A long, red, fancy carpet ran through the middle of the lobby, where it stopped at the front of the registration desk. The walls were painted a beige. It had various red curtains that hung from the roof that ended at the floor. Pictures of the Fire Flowers were printed on it. The floor had an elegant tiling design on it. A big chandelier hung from the ceiling.

"Hmm, it looks really fancy!" Luigi complimented.

Mario looked at him. "It's-a concert hall. It's supposed to be fancy."

"Eh, that's not why we're here for, remember?" Luigi said, trying to change the subject. "Now come on! We have to find the guy who is looking for a package!" He started to walk towards the registration desk.

"Luigi! Gadd said the person was a _she." _Yoshi reminded him.

The plumber stopped in his tracks, then sweat dropped. He turned back to them with an embarrassed look. "Hehe, I knew that!"

The trio walked to the registration desk. A red Toad in a fancy tuxedo was there, sitting on a tall stool so he could see above the desk. He happily greeted them.

"Hello there!" the red Toad greeted. He recognized the two plumbers. "Hey! Aren't you the Mario Bros?" Mario and Luigi nodded. "Well isn't it great see see you guys!" HE put both hands on the desk. What can I do for you?"

Mario showed the red Toad the parcel. "We have a package from Professor E. Gadd. He said the person would be waiting for it to be delivered here. Would you know who that person is?"

The red Toad thought for a moment. "A package from Professor Gadd, hmm. Is the person a boy or a girl?"

"It's a girl." Luigi answered. He looked to Yoshi. "See? I knew it was a _she_ all along!"

"Yeah, because _I _told you that." the dinosaur mumbled.

"Hmph." the red Toad thought. "If it's a girl, then you must be talking about Toadette!" He hopped off his chair and went out from behind the registration desk. "Follow me!"

The red Toad led the trio through one of the big doors that were beside the registration desk. It led to the actual concert hall. The room itself was humongous. There were rows and rows of seats. There were two walkways that lead to the stage. The other walkway was from the other door. There were balconies at the side of the concert hall, where people could also watch from. The stage of the concert hall was big. It had two levels to it. Two doors were at the back of the stage, where the musicians and performers came out of. A big statue of a Fire Flower was placed on the wall behind the stage. Three, large chandeliers were in the concert hall. The trio was amazed.

"Mammamia!" exclaimed Luigi. "This concert hall is-a _really _big!" He gazed around the room.

"Hey! You can make an echo here!" Yoshi pointed out. He shouted out the word, _'Echo'. _A loud echo came from the room, repeating what Yoshi had said.

"Ha! Nice one!" Luigi exclaimed. He high-fived the dinosaur.

"Luigi! Yoshi! Quiet-a down!" Mario told them.

The red Toad led them up to the stage. On the stage, was a lone Toad, with a trumpet in her hand, looking over a music sheet on a stand. She dressed differently for a Toad. She wore a pink dress-shirt with a bright red vest over it. The vest had a gold trim. Her Toad hat was the color pink with white polka dots. Pink plaits hung from the hat, also colors pink with white polka-dots.

The red Toad called out to the pink Toad. "Hey! Toadette! You have some visitors!"

Toadette turned towards them and was surprised to see the Mario Bros. "Hey! Mario! Luigi!" She ran up to them. "Hi guys! I haven't seen you in a while. What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we have this package to deliver." Mario showed her the package. "It's from Professor E. Gadd. I'm assuming this-a could be yours."

"It is!" Toadette exclaimed. She carefully set her trumpet on the stage floor and took the package. She carefully ripped the paper off, revealing a white, rectangular box.

"So..." Luigi started. He walked beside Toadette and looked at the box. "What's in the package?"

"It's my conducting baton!" Toadettes answered. She opened up the box, revealing a finely crafted wooden baton stick. The stick part was pink while the handle was white. Toadette took it out of the box and showed it to everyone.

"Wow. I've never seen a baton that looked just like this." Yoshi explained.

Luigi gave a confused look. "We came all this way, just to deliver a stick?"

Mario carefully looked at the baton. "Toadette, I don't get why you needed a baton for. What are you going to use it for?"

Toadette put her baton into her pocket. "If you haven't heard yet, I'm conducting my very first recital right here!"

"_You're _conducting a recital?" Luigi repeated. "But, I thought you only play trumpet?"

Toadette nodded. "Yeah, well, they've asked me to conduct the symphony tomorrow night, so I've been practicing conducting ever since."

"Conducting can't be _that _hard!" Yoshi said. "I mean, you _just _wave a stick around in the air."

Toadette giggled. "It's a lot harder than that, Yoshi." She walked back to her music stand. The trio followed. "I'm conducting a piece called, '_The Mushroom Waltz'." _She showed them the music sheet. It showed all the notes for each of the band sections.

"Hehe. You know, Mario. This reminded me of the time we used to be in a band." Luigi reminded his brother.

Mario remembered what his brother was talking about. "Oh yeah. I remember know. I'm-a was the drums, while you were the electric guitar."

Yoshi looked at the Mario Bros. "You guys played in a band?" The two plumbers nodded. "Well, you should know, _I _used to play the bongos back at Yoshi's Island."

"Wow! You guys must be really good musicians!" Toadette exclaimed. She was surprised, yet amazed that the Mario Bros. and Yoshi were old-time musicians.

Luigi shrugged. "Eh, we _were _pretty good back then."

Suddenly, Toadette thought of an idea. "Hey, Mike." She was talking to the red Toad, who was still with them. "Can you get out the drum kit, electric guitar and bongos?"

The red Toad nodded. "Sure will, Toadette!" He ran to the door at the back of the stage.

The trio looked to Toadette, confused.

"Uhmm, what are you doing, Toadette?" Mario asked.

"Resurrecting the musicians in_ you _three!" Toadette answered.

* * *

_**Mushroom City, Mega Mushroom Mall...**_

"So, this must be the mall Mario was talking about." said Sonic. He looked up at the mall. It stretched up to five stories. The entrance of the mall was entirely made up out of glass windows, so you could see people entering and exiting. You could see some of the shops that were there. The front part of the mall took up the space of five buildings. On the front of the mall, was a logo of a Mega Mushroom, with the words, '_Mega Mushroom Mall' _printed under it. They were painted red.

Amy was beside him, while Tails was fiddling around with the DS Horror that Professor Gadd had given him. "Well, you guys want to check it out?" asked Sonic.

"You bet!" answered Amy. "This place looks fun!" She grabbed one of Sonic's hand, pulling him into the mall. Tails followed along, still having his eyes glued onto his DS Horror. The group entered the Mega Mushroom Mall. The passed through the entry way and went through another door. Once they entered, they couldn't believe what they saw.

Inside, the mall was packed full of shoppers. The mall had five floors, all filled with numerous shops. The roof was made up of glass, so you could see the starry sky outside. In front of them, was a fountain that shot out a geyser of water out in the air every minute. An elevator that led to all the floors was behind it. along with two escalators that went up and down. Cheerful music played in the mall.

Sonic and Amy were astonished by the glory of the mall. It even made Tails stop playing with his DS Horror just to look around the complex.

"Whoa! _This_ is the Mega Mushroom Mall?" Tails had asked.

"You've got to admit, these Mushroom people sure have some style!" Sonic said. "I bet this mall attracts lots of tourists."

"Come on!" Amy exclaimed. "We _have _to look around! I want to see every shop in here!" She grabbed Sonic's hand again and pulled him along with her. The blue hedgehog was embarrassed, but he also wanted to check around the mall. Tails followed the two.

The Mega Mushroom Mall had what any other mall would have. There were clothing boutiques, shoe shops, toy shops, video stores, music stores and lots more you could think of. There was even a bowling alley in the mall. A food court was placed at the highest floor. It was under a big skylight and various exotic plants were placed around the food court, giving out the feeling that you were outside. The trio headed there after exploring a few of the shops.

Tails rubbed his stomach. It grumbled. "You know guys, I'm kind of getting hungry."

Sonic nodded. "Well, now that you think about it, we haven't eaten in hours! We should get something to eat." He looked around the food court, hoping that one of them offered chili dogs.

The group walked around a bit, trying to find something they'd all enjoy eating. But unknown to them, they were being spied on.

The dark figure was standing on top of the glass of the skylight. It had it's arms crossed. It was in the form of Sonic. It's body glowed all in a dark blue shadow. It's eyes glowed in yellow. The dark figure looked over to Sonic. He had a strong hatred for him.

"_That hedgehog...will pay!" _

Suddenly, the dark figure jumped into the air and commenced a homing attack. It shot itself towards the glass, crashing through it. Pieces of it fell on the floor of the food court. The dark figure landed on it's feet. This caused a few shoppers to see what happened.

"Whoa! What the heck is that thing?" shouted a blue Toad.

"I've never seen anything like that before!" yelled out a shopping Koopa Troopa.

Tails looked behind them, to see what everyone was talking about. He was shocked. "Uhm, Sonic!"

At first, Amy was the one who looked. "Oh no! It's that shadow figure!"

Sonic looked back and saw the dark figure staring at them with it's demonic eyes. "Hey! It's you again!" He put his hands in a fist, preparing for what may come next.

The dark figure laughed. Then slowly paced from side to side. The shoppers in the mall had no idea what was happening. They just watched.

"_Why, it has been awhile, my worthy fo_e." started the dark figure. "_You know, you have really caused me lots of problems in the past, Sonic._"

Sonic gave a serious look. "Okay, buddy. I'm not really in the mood to talk with you, but since you seemed so desperate just by following us here, I have one question. How do you even know what my name is?"

The dark figure shook his head, disappointed by the hedgehog's ignorance. "_My, my, Sonic. Even after all these years, you're still the same cocky hedgehog I remember you._" The dark figure stopped in his pace. "_And that's one of the few reasons why I despise you_."

Tails whispered to Sonic. "It seems like this guy knows us, which could mean he might have come from _our _dimension."

"But how exactly _did _he get here?" Amy asked. Tails shrugged

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out."

The dark figure quickly turned back towards them. "Now, Sonic the Hedgehog! No one, not even your _filthy _plumber friends and their dinosaur will stop me from finally destroying you!" Suddenly, the dark figure faced the palm of his hands towards them, causing a dark energy ball to appear in front of him. He swiftly shot it at the three. Sonic quickly reacted by grabbing Amy and Tails and jumped out of the dark energy balls path. A small, purple explosion emitted from where it landed. This caused all of the shoppers in the food court to run in panic, causing a huge ruckus in the mall.

Sonic landed and gently let go of Amy and Tails. He turned to them. "Guys, listen. I need you two to get to the Mario Bros and tell them there is trouble." He turned to the dark figure, who was preparing another dark energy ball. "I'll distract the dark figure while I wait for you guys."

"But Sonic..." Amy started.

Sonic gave her am reassuring look, then a thumbs up. "Don't worry, I'll be okay!"

The pink hedgehog hesitated, but nodded back to him. She and Tails ran towards one of the mall's various exits. Sonic watched them go. He then looked back to the dark figure, who was holding a charged, dark energy ball in his hand.

"You know, we_ could_ handle this in a much easier, _safer_ way." teased Sonic. "We could sit down and work out whatever problems you have with me, then shake hands." He started to do a few leg stretches.

The dark figure gave him a challenging look. "_But if we did that, then I wouldn't get the excitement of annihilating you!_"

Sonic shrugged. "Well, you do have a point. Talking it out is pretty _boring_ to me too!" He got into his battle position, then pointed to the dark figure. "Since I'm so generous, I'll let you have the first strike."

"_My pleasure!" _The dark figure quickly threw the dark energy ball towards Sonic.

And so, an intense battle was about to unfold...

.

..

...

_To be continued_

* * *

_Looks like Sonic is going to handle the dark figure all by himself! Will Tails and Amy reach the Mario Bros. in time before things get too hectic? And who is that dark figure? And have the Mario Bros and Yoshi really played instruments before? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_

**Author Notes: Finally got this chapter done. Hope you guys enjoy it! This is one of those chapters where not much action happens, but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. I thought the idea of Mario and Luigi playing in a band was pretty cool, and since they were going to a concert hall, I thought I'd take the chance and get them to play instruments. But it doesn't happen in this chapter! Here's a small fact: I was hoping to put the battle between the heroes and the dark figure in this chapter, but I didn't want to make this chapter too big. Anyways, expect an epic battle in the next chapter! Check my profile for upcoming chapters of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite! But be warned, they may spoil the plot for you. Thanks for the support everyone!**

**__****I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**  



	19. Rumble in the Streets!

**_Chapter 19: Rumble in the Streets!_**

_**Mushroom City, Flower Concert Hall...**_

The stage of the Flower Concert Hall was empty, except for the presence of the Mario Bros, their companion, Yoshi and their cheerful friend, Toadette. They waited as the registration Toad, Mike, was getting out the instruments for the three heroes to test out and play.

Luigi gently elbowed his brother. "_Wow_, Mario! Who knew we'd be able to play the drums and guitar again. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Mario nodded. "I'm-a just hope I remember how to play." He thought for a moment. "I just wished I remember what happened to our last instruments."

Mike came out of the backstage door, carrying out a green electric guitar. It had a black, leather neck strap. "Here you go, Luigi." He handed him the guitar gently. The green plumber put on the neck strap. He was fascinated by the design of the guitar.

"Cool! This-a looks just like my old guitar!" Luigi exclaimed. He looked at the strings, trying to remember the chords.

"Where are the drums, Mike?" Mario had asked.

The red Toad smiled. "Don't worry, Mario! I already have them placed on a cart. I just need to wheel them out." Mike ran to the back stage, then returned, steering a small, gray warehouse-looking cart. On it, was a red drum kit. He carefully took the drum kits off the cart and set them up. After he was done, he rolled the car off the stage, then gave Mario his drums sticks. "These are one of the finest crafted drum sticks. Handle them well."

Mario gave him an assuring nod. He walked up to the drum kit and sat on the seat. "Mammamia, this drum kit looks like it-a plays very well."

"Uhmm, Mike." Yoshi spoke. "Do you have any bongos that I can play?"

Mike shook his head. "Sorry Yoshi, but the symphony is using them for their concert at Isle Delfino. They won't be here until tomorrow morning."

The dinosaur sadly looked to the ground. "Oh. Well, okay then..."

Toadette saw the sadness in Yoshi. She walked up to him. "Aww, don't be sad Yoshi." Then, she got an idea. "Hey! Why don't you try playing another instrument!" She looked to Mike. "Can you get one of the spare trumpets for Yoshi?" Mike nodded, then went to retrieve the trumpet.

Yoshi was suprised. "But, Toadette! I don't know how to play trumpet!"

"Don't worry, Yoshi! The trumpet is easy." Toadette picked up her own trumpet she had placed on the floor. "And besides, it only has three valves. You'll learn to play in no time!"

The dinosaur looked at Toadette with a confused look. "Uhmm, valves?"

Mike came back, with a trumpet case in his hand. He gave it to Toadette so she could assemble it, then handed to Yoshi. "Here, try it!" Yoshi reluctantly took it. Toadette showed him how to hold it and the positions of each note. "Remember, you don't blow , but buzz it!" The dinosaur nodded.

Mario looked up to both Luigi and Yoshi. "So, you guys ready to play?" His brother gave him a thumbs-up and Yoshi slowly nodded. "Okay then, let's-a go!"

Instantly, Mario started doing a drum beat. It sounded like the _boom-boom-clap _from the song "We Will Rock You" Luigi recognized what his brother was playing, then started to play the guitar part of the song. They both sounded like a real rock group. Once they were done, Toadette and Mike clapped.

"Awesome!" Mike exclaimed.

"That was terrific!" Toadette complimented. She looked at Yoshi, who hadn't played anything yet. "Hey, Mario, why don't you play some sort of jazz beat so Yoshi could play something."

Mario nodded. He thought of a beat, then started to play a gentle beat on the cymbals and bass drum and repeated the pattern. Yoshi hesitated for a moment, thinking about what to play. Suddenly, he came up with something. He started to play the main melody of _Super Mario World. _He played it slowly, to make sure he didn't screw up. It sounded cool and jazzy. Once Mario and Yoshi were done, the tow Toads and Luigi applauded.

"Man, now _that_ sounded really cool." said Luigi. "Nice job to the both of you!"

"That was really impressive." complimented Toadette. "Especially you, Yoshi. You learned the trumpet _so_ quickly. I'm really proud of you!"

Yoshi sweat dropped. "Aww, thanks!"

"You know, guys." Mario started. "We should really play this for Sonic and his friends. They are going to really like this!" The group agreed. Just as they were about to move, one of the concert halls entry doors opened. In came Tails and Amy, exhausted.

"Guys!" Tails spoke. "There's a big emergency outside!"

Luigi removed the neck strap of the guitar and gently put it down. "An emergency? What kind of emergency?"

"You guys remember about that shadow figure thing back at the jungle, right?" Amy started. The three nodded. "Well, he's back! And he''s fighting with Sonic!"

"Sonic is-a fighting that shadow figure?" Mario repeated. "Alone?" He layed the drum sticks down on the floor. "Come on, guys! We should go help him. He won't be able to take on that shadow figure all by himself!" Everyone ran out of the concert hall and into the lobby. Before they left, Mario told Amy something.

"Amy, you should-a stay here with Toadette and Mike. Sonic would want you to so you won't get-a hurt."

The pink hedgehog nodded. "Just make sure that Sonic doesn't get hurt."

The Mario Bros, Yoshi and Tails went outside of the Flower Concert Hall. It was still a peaceful night outside in the Mushroom City. "Where is Sonic fighting the shadow figure, Tails?" Luigi asked.

"We left them both back at the Mega Mushroom Mall." the fox answered. "Sonic told us to get you guys so you could assist him."

The heroes started down the stairs, but suddenly, something had crashed in front of the stairs. Smoke emitted from where the crash was. Civilians down on the streets started to run away, panicing. The smoke cleared and out from the dust appeared Sonic and the shadow figure, a few feet facing each other. It was obvious that both had fought vigorously. They made a big crack on the sidewalk.

"Sonic!" shouted Tails.

The hedgehog looked up to them, then back to the shadow figure. "Hey guys! I could use some help down here!" The shadow figure glared angrily at Sonic.

"_You won't get help from them!"_

Suddenly, the shadow figure initiated a homing attack on Sonic. The hedgehog quickly dodged it and commenced a counter-homing attack on the shadow figure. It hit him hard on the back. The shadow figure fell onto the ground. Sonic landed on the ground and prepared to do another homing attack, but when he was in the air, the shadow figure shot out a dark, purple laser out from his hand. It hit Sonic right in the stomach, causing the hedgehog to fly in the air and land on the stairs. The other heroes watched as he stumbled down the stair way. They ran to his aid.

"Sonic! Are you okay?" Luigi asked. He turned him onto his back.

"I'm fine..." Sonic groaned. He held onto his stomach. He was breathing really hard. "Man! That one hit me really hard."

"You look badly bruised." Tails said. He turned to Yoshi. "I'm going to need you to carry Sonic back inside the concert hall." The dinosaur nodded.

"No, I can still fight." Sonic insisted. He tried to stand up, but ended up falling back.

"Sorry, Sonic. But you should sit this one out." Mario told him. "Amy is inside the concert hall, along with my friend, Toadette. They'll help you heal some of the bruises." Sonic was disappointed, but thought it was a good idea for him to get some of his injuries healed. He climbed onto Yoshi's saddle. Before they left, Sonic gave them advice.

"Be careful guys. That shadow figure means_ business_ this time!"

Yoshi climbed up the steps, with Sonic on his back, and entered the Flower Concert Hall. The Mario Bros, along with Tails, looked to the shadow figure. It had it's arms crossed. "_My, my. Is Sonic leaving already? We were having so much fun!" _

_"_You hurt Sonic!" Tails yelled. He gave the shadow figure a determined face. "I won't let you get away with that!"

"_Hehe. You have changed a lot since our last encounter, Tails." _the shadow figure said. He looked to the Mario Bros. Luigi already had taken out his wooden hammer and was prepared for attack. "_Hmph! That young turtle was right about you two. You both are quite a handful to take care of."_

The Mario Bros. looked at each other, confused as to who the shadow figure was talking about. "Young turtle?" Luigi whispered to his brother. "What could he mean by that?"

The shadow figure suddenly got into battle position. "_No matter! I will not be pummeled by two plumbers and a fox!" _He charged up a dark energy ball in his hands. "_Once I am done with you, NOTHING will stand between me and Sonic!"_

* * *

Back in the Flower Concert Hall, Sonic was sitting in one of the lobby's couches while Amy, Toadette and Yoshi tended his bruises. "Oh, Sonic! I'm really glad you're still okay from fighting the shadow figure." Amy said. She was treating the bruise on his stomach by putting bandages on it.

Toadette was still dumbfounded from what was now happening. "Just _exactly _what is that shadow figure you were fighting outside?"

"Well, there's one thing I know about him," Sonic started to explain. He paused for a moment. "He's from a _different _world. Just like us." Toadette was surprised to hear what he said. Suddenly, the heroes heard a loud _boom _from outside. The others were already battling with the shadow figure.

"Sounds like it's getting rough outside!" Yoshi commented. He had worried look on his face. "Gee, to be honest, I'm kind of scared to go out now!"

"It seems like that shadow figure isn't going easy on them." said Amy. She turn towards Sonic. "I hope the others can handle it."

The blue hedgehog gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry. I know they'll do it." He looked down to his bandages. "I just wish I could help..."

* * *

"Waaaaah!" yelled out Luigi. He quickly dodge another one of the shadow figure's shadow balls. It hit the street, emitting another, small explosion of rubble from the ground. "Boy! He-a never did anything like this the last time we fought!"

"_You seem like an outgoing fellow." _the shadow figure commented. He shot another shadow ball towards Luigi. The green plumber jumped out of it's path and hopped onto a red car. The shadow ball created another small explosion. The civilians of the city were watching the battle from a distance.

Luigi kept his balance on the roof of the car. "Hey! Stop shooting those magic exploding energy balls!" Without thinking, he threw his wooden hammer towards the shadow figure. It hit the figure on the head, bouncing off of him.

"_Gah! You fool!" _The shadow figure rubbed the area where he got hit.

"Hey! I hit him!" exclaimed Luigi. He hopped up and down in victory. The shadow figure was annoyed by this, so he quickly shot out a dark laser at the car, causing it to explode. Luigi flew out into the air. "Waaaaaaaah!" He was about to hit the ground, when Tails flew to him and caught him by the leg. The plumber was relieved.

"You've gotta be careful next time, Luigi!" Tails reminded. A dark laser was suddenly shot in front of him. He luckily dodged it. Another laser was passed right behind him. The shadow figure then charged up another shadow ball. He quickly threw it towards the two.

"_Wah! _Tails! Watch out!" warned Luigi.

Before Tails could see the shadow ball, it hurled towards him and made a direct hit on the fox. Tails lost his flight and fell to the street below, along with Luigi. They both landed on the ground with a _thud! _The shadow figure gave out an evil laugh. "_Haha! You two are no match against me!" _He looked around, trying to find where Mario went. "_Where is that other plumber of yours. Is he hiding? What a foolish thing of him to do." _Unexpectedly to the shadow figure, Mario jumped from behind a parked truck. He initiated one of his trademark jump attacks. He aimed towards the shadow figure and stomped onto it's head with his feet. He bounced off of the shadow figure, did a quick spin in the air, and jumped onto it's head again. Mario bounced off again and did a backflip, landing on the ground nearby.

The shadow figure crouched on the ground, injured from the plumber's attacks. He slowly stood back up, staring at Mario with an evil look. "_Hmph. You are stronger than I had thought you were." _The shadow figure raised both of his hands towards the plumber. Mario prepared himself. "_No matter! There is no way you are going out of this city alive!" _

Suddenly, the shadow figures hands formed into small cannons. A small light came from both ends. Mario was confused. How could he turn his arms into cannons all of a sudden? He couldn't have copied it from someone.

"_Say your prayers, Mario!" _The shadow figure shouted. He fired his cannons. Two white lasers shot towards the plumber at extreme speeds. Mario couldn't dodge in time, and was hit by the lasers. He flew into the side of a car, causing a large dent on the car door. Mario fell to the ground, badly injured. The crowd that was watching the battle panicked in horror, for they saw the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom fall.

Luigi struggled to get on his knees. Once he got up, he looked and saw his brother on the ground. "Mario!" He ran to his side. "Bro! Are you okay! Speak to me!"

Mario gave out a small moan. "I'm-I'm fine, Luigi." He put his hand on his back. "That laser. It was...so powerful."

Tails got up, recovering from the hit from the shadow ball. He saw the shadow figure, still aiming his cannons towards the Mario Bros. "Oh no..."

_"Ahahahaha!" _the shadow figure laughed out. "_You Mario Bros. are finally no match for me!" _He charged up his twin-cannons again, ready to fire at both Mario and Luigi. "_It's time to maximize my power! This one will surely kill off both of them."_

"Hey! Shadow figure!" shouted someone. The shadow figure was surprised. He looked around him, checking to see who was shouting at him. "Up here!" The shadow figure looked up to find Sonic on Yoshi, who was in the middle of a Flutter Jump. "I don't think we can let you do this!"

Suddenly, Yoshi did a quick front flip, with Sonic holding on. "_Briiiing-HA!" _shouted the dinosaur. He rocketed down towards the shadow figure, doing a mighty Ground Pound on him. It crushed the shadow figure into the street. Yoshi climbed off of him. The shadow figure was completely dazed from the attack. Sonic high-fived Yoshi.

Luigi helped his brother up. Mario looked to the direction of the shadow figure. He was lying on the ground on his stomach. "Mammamia. They did it!"

The shadow figure stayed on the ground and didn't bother to get up. "_Noo! I can't believe I let my guard down so easily!" _He slammed his fists on the ground, angered by his defeat.

Tails flew to the side of Sonic and Yoshi. "Wow, guys! I thought we were going to lose for sure, but when you guys came along, you totally turned this battle around!"

The crowd watching the battle cheered in celebration. The heroes realized they had saved the city from a great threat. Amy and Toadette were celebrating to on top of the stairs of the Flower Concert Hall. They had watched the whole fight unfold.

"They did it!" exclaimed Toadette. "Great job, guys!"

"I told you Sonic and the others would!" Amy said.

Sonic looked down at the shadow figure. He still sat on Yoshi's saddle. "Look, buddy. As much as I had fun beating you up with my friends and all, you _need_ to stop doing this. You're getting innocent lives in danger."

The shadow figure continuously slammed his fists on the ground. "_I will not accept defeat!" _He looked up and saw the traffic still running through the intersection of 43rd Street and Bullet Avenue. He suddenly shot a shadow ball in that direction. A Wiggler Bus was passing through at that time, and the shadow ball hit the front of it, causing the bus driver to lose control. The Wiggler Bus started to speed wildly through the streets.

"Oh no! The bus looks like it's out of control!" someone had shouted from the crowd.

The shadow figure laughed. "_Hehe! Looks like you guys aren't done yet!" _He turned towards Sonic. "_We will meet again, Sonic the Hedgehog!" _The shadow figure disappeared in a purple mist of dust. The heroes were shocked.

"Uhmm, what just happened?" Yoshi asked. Things were going too quick for the dinosaur. Suddenly, they heard the screeching of cars nearby on the other street, followed by honking. The Wiggler Bus was crashing through everything. Civilians were running out of the bus' path.

"I think that Wiggler bus really _is _out of control!" Tails explained. "Someone has to stop it!"

"I'll stop it!" Sonic insisted. He slowly climbed off Yoshi, but he was still holding onto his chest. Tails stopped him.

"Sorry, Sonic. But you look like you're still hurt. I think it's better if one of us chased after that bus." Sonic was about to deny his friend, but a small, sharp pain went through his body. He nodded to his friend.

"But who will stop it?" Sonic pointed out.

Before they knew it, they heard a motorcycle engine start. They turned to where they heard the noise. Surprisingly, Mario was on a Mach Bike that was parked near the sidewalk in front of the Flower Concert Hall, along with Luigi who was sitting behind him. The plumber drove the bike near Sonic, Tails and Yoshi. "Don't worry! Me and Luigi will handle it." Mario assured.

"Are you sure?" Yoshi said. "You got badly hurt by that laser cannon that shadow figure shot at you."

Mario winked to his dinosaur friend. "Not hurt enough to ride a motorcycle." He turned to Tails. "We-a may need you're help, Tails."

The fox nodded. "Anything to save those people on the bus." He prepared his tails and started to hover. Mario squeezed on the clutch of the Mach Bike and headed, with Luigi holding on tightly on his seat. Tails flew beside them. They headed for the direction to where the Wiggler Bus was.

"Wow! I've never seen anything courage like _that _before." Sonic said to Yoshi. "I just hope they can handle things without me."

* * *

The Wiggler Bus was careening through the streets of the Mushroom City. Cars and trucks were driving out of the bus's direction. Civilians screamed and shouted, running away from the Wiggler Bus path. The Wiggler Bus turned to the left of the street, and took the tunnel into Moonview Highway. The Mario Bros. and Tails closely followed the Wiggler Bus. They were right behind it.

"What's your plan, bro?" Luigi asked Mario.

He looked up the Wiggler Bus. "I'mma need you to jump into the driving seat and stop the bus with Tails, Luigi!" His brother was surprised.

"B-b-b-but I can't do that!"

Mario looked behind to his brother. "Yes you can, Luigi. You're a Mario Bro!"

Luigi looked to his brother with a determined face. He nodded. He looked up to Tails. The fox gave him a thumbs-up.

The Wiggler Bus came out of the exit of the tunnel and was now driving through the cliffs and ridges of Moonview Highway. They had exited the Mushroom City. The heroes had to act quick, or else the Wiggler Bus could drive off the cliff. Luigi grabbed onto Tails hands and the fox flew both of them by the side of the bus. Mario drove carefully behind the Wiggler Bus. Tails and Luigi flew by the side of the bus and headed towards the front of it. They saw in the window that the Koopa bus driver was panicking and trying to steer the wheel, but id wouldn't move.

"We've got to find a way in there!" Luigi said.

Tails looked on the roof of the Wiggler Bus, and found an emergency hatch on it. He pointed to it for Luigi to see. "We'll climb through there!" The fox carefully hovered both of them above the bus. He was about to let go of Luigi so he could open the hatch, but the bus suddenly swerved to the right. Luigi fell and missed the bus, but luckily Tails swooped down to catch him. They tried once more to get on top of the bus. The plumber landed on the roof and carefully kept his balance. The Wiggler Bus violently turned to the left, causing Luigi to fall on his back and roll off the bus. He quickly grabbed onto the ledge. Tails saw what happened, so he landed on the roof and helped Luigi climb back up.

"Thanks!" Luigi said. "Now we've got to stop this bus!" He kept his balance in the bus and went to the emergency hatch, opening it up. They both climbed in. Inside, passengers were shouting and yelling in panic. Luigi had to calm them down.

One of the passengers recognized Luigi. "Hey, look! It's Luigi! He's Mario's brother! He'll save us!"

"Don't worry, everyone!" Luigi assured them. "Everything is under control." Suddenly, the bus went over a large bump, causing everyone to scream in horror. The plumber turned towards the fox. "Hurry and help the bus driver while I calm everyone down!"

The fox nodded and headed to the driver's seat. He saw the Koopa driver struggle on the wheel. "What's the problem?"

"The wheel! It won't budge!" answered the Koopa driver. "And the brakes won't work either!

"What a bad case scenario!" Tails said. He told the bus driver to let him check. He climbed into the driving seat and tried to move the steering wheel. It was jammed tightly. The fox tried to budge it as hard as he could, but he couldn't move it. He looked out the window, and noticed they were nearing the part of the highway that had _no _fence to block the cars from falling.

"Who was the person who was building this highway?" Tails said to himself. "It's like he was building a race course or something!"

The fox used all his strength and might to move the steering wheel to the left. It surprisingly steered and Tails could finally steer the bus with ease. He quickly jerked the bus to the left of the street. This caused the bus to drive to the left, but since the motion was so fast, it fell on it's side. Everyone on the bus held onto their seats, while Luigi had to grab onto one of the poles the helped passengers keep balance. Mario, who was still following the bus on the Mach Bike, had to brake so he wouldn't accidentally drive into the bus when it slowed down on it's side.

The Wiggler Bus kept sliding on the street. It slowed down and stopped just a few feet away from the cliff edge. Mario stopped the Mach Bike, climbed off and went to see if everyone on the bus was alright. "Luigi! Tails! Is everyone okay in there?"

There was a short silence, but out climbed Luigi, Tails and the rest of the passengers on the bus. They climbed out of the emergency hatch. Everyone was talking amongst themselves saying how scary the ride was. Mario walked up to his brother and the fox. "Luigi! Tails! You guys did it! You saved everyone on the bus!"

The passengers suddenly clapped and cheered for them. The two were embarrassed.

"Aww, it was no big deal!" insisted Luigi.

Tails sweat dropped. "You know, it's been awhile since people cheered for me."

Everyone left the wreck of the Wiggler Bus and walked back to the Mushroom City. The each got a few thank-you's from the passengers. Mario, Luigi and Tails drove back to the Flower Concert Hall where Sonic, Amy, Yoshi and Toadette were waiting.

"So, did you guys do it? Did you guys stop the Wiggler Bus? asked Yoshi. The three nodded.

"Wow! You guys are amazing!" complimented Toadette. "You stopped an out of control Wiggler Bus! You really are heroes!"

"Yeah. I just wish _I _could've helped in someway though." Sonic said.

"But, Sonic. You _did _help!" Amy reminded him. "You got the last strike on that shadow figure! If it wasn't for you, the Mario Bros would've been hit by his cannon lasers."

Sonic remembered. "Heh, you're right Amy. I did help after all. Thanks." He ended up getting a hug from the pink hedgehog. But this time, he didn't jerk or do anything.

Luigi scratched his head. "You know, I just remembered. All of this havoc started when we were just supposed to deliver Gadd's package to Toadette. Who knew things would have gotten out of hand from there on."

Mario suddenly remembered. "Mammamia! Gadd's Teleportificationtron! The Power Star! We totally forgot about that!"

Luigi gasped. "Oh no! I'm-a wonder if the Lookout Toad that Princess Peach got found the next location of the Power Star!"

"You guy's don't have to worry!" Toadette calmed them down. "While you guy's were fighting with that shadow figure, I got a call from the castle saying where the next Power Star was."

"Well, what did they say?" Tails exclaimed.

"The princess told me that the Power Star landed somewhere in the Hot Hot Desert!" Toadette answered.

"The Hot Hot Desert?" repeated Yoshi. "I've heard that it's really hot out there."

"Then we'd better prepare for tomorrow then." Sonic said. "'Cause we're going to that Hot Hot Desert and find that next Power Star!"

The heroes said their goodbye to Toadette and took the next bus headed back to the Mushroom Kingdom. They were awfully tired and couldn't wait to some some sleep. It was a long night for the heroes. Unaware of them though, for the whole night, they were being watched by a certain Koopaling and a Magikoopa. They were watching high on top of a building in the Mushroom City.

"Did you see that, Junior?" Kamek asked the Koopaling. "That shadow figure had such immense power. Not even the Mario Bros. could easily handle it. We must report that to your father and that evil scientist!"

Bowser Jr. was looking down on the streets of the Mushroom City, thinking about something. Kamek had to shout to get his attention. "Junior! Is something the matter?" The Koopaling quickly turned to the Magikoopa.

"Oh, nothing Kamek." Junior assured him. "Let's just go now." He hopped into his Koopaling Clown Car and flew towards the direction of Bowser's Castle. Kamek hopped onto his flying broom. He noticed the tone of Junior's voice seemed a little uneasy when they were talking about the shadow figure.

"Something seems to be bothering that Koopaling..."

.

..

...

_To be continued_

* * *

_Looks like the heroes are off onto their next Power Star search into the Hot Hot Desert! Will they succeed? And what is the mystery behind that shadow figure? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_

**Author Notes: Wow! This was pretty much the longest chapter I've ever wrote! This must be because of all the action in it! I didn't expect it to get this long, to be honest. ****This chapter is pretty exciting and helps move the story forward a little bit. **I really wanted to take the opportunity to add a chase scene in the chapter since the heroes were in a big city. If you're wondering about the identity of the shadow figure, it is somebody from Sonic's world. If you know, then don't spoil it. And for the case of the instruments of Mario, Luigi and Yoshi, they will be using them again sometime in the story. I just wanted to get that out. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter and thanks for the support! Check my profile for updates on my stories!

******__****I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**  



	20. Thieves in the Hot Hot Desert!

**_Chapter 20: Thieves in the Hot Hot Desert!_**

**_Mario Bros. House_**

It was a beautiful, early dawn in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun was just rising by then, giving a bright orange glow near the horizon while the rest of the sky was a relaxing, dark blue. Baby birds were already chirping in the trees. At this time, most people would be getting up by now. It was peaceful and quiet in the Mario Bros. residence. Mario and Luigi were still sleeping in their beds, while Yoshi was sleeping in the guest room, which was across the hallway from the Mario Bros. bedroom.

The alarm clock went off in the Mario Bros. bedroom. Luigi took his time to shut it off. He sat up from his bed and stretched his arms out. He was wearing white pajamas with vertical green stripes. After he was done stretching, he looked to his brother, who was sleeping on his stomach, snoring. Both his right arm and leg hung over the edge of the bed. He was also wearing white pajamas, but this time it had red vertical stripes. Luigi climbed out of his bed and calmly woke up his brother.

"Hey, _bro_." said Luigi. "It's-a time to wake up now."

"Ahhhh...Rrrravioli..." Mario turned his head away from him, still asleep. Luigi shook his head and sighed.

"Sometimes, I just don't get my brother." He went back to his bed and fixed up the covers. He then got into their bathroom, took a shower, brushed his teeth and got dressed up in his overalls. Instead of dressing up in his long-sleeved shirt, he put on his green short-sleeved shirt. "Today we're going to the Hot Hot Desert, and I don't want to sweat in the heat!" He looked at himself in the mirror, and put on his trademark hat, fixing it in the desired position. Suddenly, someone knocked on the bathroom door.

"Luigi? Are you in there?" It was Mario. He still sounded a little bit tired. Luigi opened the door, and found his brother holding his clothes. Mario looked up to him, surprised he was already dressed. "Wow, you're-a pretty fast."

"That's because I wake up early." Luigi teased. His brother gave him an annoyed look.

"Hey, I'm-a should tell you I'm still tired from what happened last night in Mushroom City." Mario explained. He walked past his brother into the bathroom and laid his clothes on the toilet seat. He grabbed his towel off of the bathroom hanger. "Can you start cooking breakfast now? I'm-a awfully hungry."

Luigi nodded. He was about to head for the kitchen when he remembered to remind his brother. "We're going to the Hot Hot Desert today to find the next Power Star, Mario. Make sure you wear your short-sleeved shirt. It's going to be scorching hot out there!" Mario gave him an "okie-dokie".

The green plumber walked out of their bedroom and knocked on the guest room's door. "Wake up, Yoshi! We're going to go Power Star searching today!"

The dinosaur yawned loudly. He put his blanket over his head. "Five more minutes, Luigi."

Luigi headed downstairs and headed for the kitchen. He opened up the fridge and took a few eggs out. He got the stove ready and set the frying pan on one of the elements. He cracked an egg and poured the egg yolk on the frying pan and started to cook. He cooked three eggs and a few bacon. He was setting up the table when Mario and Yoshi walked in.

The dinosaur sniffed the air. "Mmmmm! Eggs! My favourite!" Yoshi quickly sat down and waited for Luigi to give him his plate. "I was so tired from last night that forgot to have my midnight snack! The shadow figure back in the city gave us a whole lot of trouble, right?"

Mario nodded to the dinosaur. "That thing still bothers me. The shadow figure had so much power that even Sonic couldn't handle it by himself."

Luigi placed their breakfast on the table. "That shadow figure also had some sort of despise against him. It makes me wonder if that thing and Sonic knew each other in the past. It seems really likely."

"I'm just hoping the shadow figure doesn't come back." Yoshi said in a serious voice.

"Don't worry, Yoshi!" comforted Mario. He sat down in his chair. "If he does come back, we can beat him again!" The dinosaur smiled from the plumber's enthusiasm.

Luigi sat in his chair. "Come on, guys. Let's eat! We have a big day ahead of us in the Hot Hot Desert and we should get ready for whatever happens there!" The trio started to eat their breakfast, looking forward to meet up with Sonic and his friends and search for the next Power Star that will help them return back home.

* * *

_**Bowser's Castle, Hallway Area...**_

The Koopa King was walking through the hallways of his castle, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. On the side of the cup, were the words, "_Best King Dad Eva!" _It was a gift from his Koopalings for birthday. It wasn't much, but it did mean something to him. He took a sip and continued down the hallway, thinking about what Kamek and Junior had seen last night in the Mushroom City.

"I wonder how that shadow figure had so much strength and energy." Bowser talked to himself. "If only I was there to see it. I would've gotten a kick out of it to see Mario fall to his knees. There's just gotta be a way to harness that kind of power. It would totally help in my plans to take over the Mushroom Kingdom!"

He passed by his castle laboratory, where Dr. Eggman was working on their "Doomsday" machine. The Koopa King was curious, so he walked back and entered. The doctor was working on the work table, which was situated in the middle of the room. He had a small desk light beside him. He was drawing out blue prints for their machine. Bowser looked over Eggman's shoulder.

"So, did you come up with anything yet?"

The doctor was still focused on his blue prints. "I took your advice about _'not trying to put the cockpit so close to the ground'. _I've come up with a few desgins for our machine, but there always seems to be some sort of flaw that could leave us open for an attack!"

"Gah! Just keep working on it." Bowser demanded. "We need some sort of big machine that Mario and Sonic will be no match to!" He took another sip of his coffee and walked around the laboratory room. He still thought about the shadow figure. "Say, Eggman. Remember last night when Kamek and Junior hurried over here to tell us about that shadow figure back in the city?"

Eggman nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty surprising to me. Who knew that there was something that could overwhelm both Mario and Sonic with it's own strength."

"Well, that's what I was thinking." Bowser said. "We need to balance both power and size. I bet that shadow figure could've easily taken care of all of those horrid heroes, but since he was the same size as them and was outnumbered, Mario and the others beat him." He sipped his coffee again, waiting for the doctor's response.

Eggman slowly nodded, impressed by the Koopa King's idea. "Brilliant! I like your thinking, Bowser!" He took out another blue print and began to draw another design of their "Doomsday" machine, keeping Bowser's words in mind. "Say, what was wrong with Junior last night? He didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk about the incident."

Bowser shrugged. "I don't know. Kamek said it could be the shadow figure that bothered him, but it just doesn't really make sense to me." He walked to the door of the laboratory. "I think I should go talk to him. Keep working on the "Doomsday" machine."

The doctor nodded, and continued drawing the design. Bowser left the laboratory door open and headed for Junior's room. Lot's of things were going in his mind right now. He drank the last bit of the coffee in his mug.

_I wonder what the Mario Bros. are doing right now... _

* * *

**_Hot Hot Desert, Oasis Outpost..._**

It was a blazing afternoon in the Hot Hot Desert. Everywhere you looked, there was sand. Lots and lots of sand. The desert had various sand dunes that piled up high. There was little plant life in the desert, which consisted of barrel cactus, palm trees and few patches of grass. The wildlife in the desert included Pokeys, Spinies and Dry Bones that would play dead whenever there would be danger. There were occasional Twisters that ran through the desert. The Hot Hot Desert also had a few ruins and pyramids that were built thousands of years ago.

In the Hot Hot Desert, there was a small town located right beside an oasis. The town itself was called the "Oasis Outpost". There wasn't much people that lived in the town. Most of the buildings were made up of stone, but they were painted different colors to add life to the town. The Oasis Outpost didn't get a lot of tourists, since it was located in the Hot Hot Desert.

In the oasis itself, there were palm trees in it. A small pool of water was there. It was the only water that was close to the Oasis Outpost. Patches of grass grew in the oasis. It seemed lush. There was also red pipe in the oasis that connected to one of the pipes in the Mushroom Plains. It was one of the few ways that people could travel to the Hot Hot Desert. Right now, it was being used by our fellow heroes.

"Let's-a go!" exclaimed Mario as he jumped out of the pipe. He was followed by Sonic, who jumped out in his spin ball form. Luigi was on Yoshi's saddle when they popped out of the pipe. Lastly, came Tails and Amy.

Sonic looked around the Hot Hot Desert. "Boy, look at all this space! I could run out here for hours and hours!"

"I don't know if you could do that, Sonic." Tails started to explain. He noticed the hot temperature in the air. "It feels like an oven out here! You would get tired from all the heat."

Mario looked to Luigi. "Did you make sure you filled up all the canteens with water?"

The green plumber nodded back to him. "I filled all of them up to the lid." He had all six of their canteens with him. The canteens had a carrying strap. He attached all of them onto Yoshi's saddle so they would know where they all were.

"Wow! It sure is hot out here!" said Amy. The pink hedgehog took out bright, white parasol that Princess Peach gave to her before they left the castle. She had warned them about the intense heat. Amy opened up the parasol and put it over her head, covering her in the cool shade of the parasol.

Sonic looked over to Amy and noticed the parasol she had. "Hey, come on, Ames! The sunshine out here is great, and you're hiding under an umbrella. It's not even hot out here!" He stretched out his arms and relaxed.

"Easy for you to say, Sonic!" The pink hedgehog walked up to him. "Unlike you, I'm wearing my boots and dress. I'd like to see you dressed up like this in the middle of the desert."

Sonic shook his head. "Sorry! But I would never be caught _dead_ in one."

"Yo, both of you!" Luigi shouted to them. The two hedgehogs looked to see that the others were already on their way to the Oasis Outpost. "You guys had better catch up! We're on a mission to find the Power Star, remember?" Sonic gave the plumber an "alright!" and ran back to them. Amy followed.

When the heroes got there, the Oasis Outpost seemed deserted. No one appeared to be occupying the place. The only things there were the buildings, a few palm trees and some beautifully painted baskets that were outside the houses. The heroes walked around for a bit, hoping to find a resident of the place.

"Gee, this place appears to be a ghost town." Tails commented.

Luigi shuddered at the word 'ghost. "D-d-d-did you say g-g-g-g-g-ghost?"

Tails gave out a small chuckle. "Don't worry, Luigi. I'm sure there is no ghosts anywhere near this place."

"Hmm, I'm-a think we should split up and see if there still is anyone in this town that has seen a Power Star fall from the sky." Mario recommended. The group nodded. "Okie-dokie. Yoshi and Tails, you check one part, me and Luigi will check the other and Sonic and Amy will check the remainder." He walked up to Yoshi and took one of the canteens. "Make sure you get-a your water. It's-a starting to get hot out here!"

The group each took their own canteen and searched around the town, each in their own direction. Mario and Luigi checked the north end, Yoshi and Tails checked the east end, while Sonic and Amy checked the west end.

"You know," Sonic started. "Now that we're in a desert and all, you think we'll see some sort of cool-looking desert creature?"

"If we do see one, I hope it's small and furry." Amy replied. "Maybe it'll have these big, round eyes. That would be _soo_ cute!"

The blue hedgehog looked at her, all confused. "Uhmm, I don't think they have those in the desert." They both stopped near a building window and looked to see if anyone was there. To their dismay, there was no one. "If I saw some sort of desert creature, I'd hope it would have this long tongue! And maybe some sharp claws on it's hand!" He pretended he had sharp claws and started to swipe in the air.

"Ugh! That would be ugly-looking!" Amy said in an unpleasant tone. "Come on, Sonic. We should continue looking."

Suddenly, one of the baskets beside them moved. Both hedgehogs stopped in their tracks and looked to the basket.

"Was it me, or did that basket move?" Sonic asked. The basket started to move again. It crawled towards them.

Amy went behind the blue hedgehog and tightly held on his shoulder. "Sonic! Do something about it."

Sonic nodded. The basket kept moving towards them. Once it was right in front of Sonic's feet, the hedgehog carefully lifted his foot and slid it under the basket. HE counted to himself, and quickly flipped the basket over. Under it, was a red-shelled turtle, with white spikes placed on it's shell. It crawled on all it's fours. It was a Spiny. It stared up to the hedgehogs and walked past them, thinking them as nothing more than regular people.

"...that was unexpected." Sonic said. Amy nodded back to him. The blue hedgehog smiled. "Come on, we've still got to find someone in this town." The hedgehogs continued searching, forgetting about the Spiny.

On the other end of the Oasis Outpost, Yoshi and Tails were continuing their search for any civilians. The fox and dinosaur were sweating from the heat. They drank from their canteens until they almost had no water left.

"Man! The temperature out here is starting to get higher and higher by the second!" Tails complained. "At this rate, I may just shave my fur off just to feel the slight breeze on me!"

The dinosaur imagined Tails without his fur. "Oh my..." He quickly shook the image out of his head. "That's just disturbing..." He went back to drinking the water out of his canteen. He drank every last drop. Yoshi was still thirsty. "Uhh, Tails, do you still have any water in your canteen?"

The fox opened up his canteen and turned it upside-down. A single drop fell out from it. "Sorry, Yoshi, but I drank all my water too." He thought for a moment. "We should check around to see if the townspeople left any water!"

The two friends checked the baskets that were scattered around by the buildings. Unluckily for them, they were all empty. Nothing was left inside the baskets.

"There's no water in this basket." Yoshi said to Tails. "I'll check the building over there!" He headed into a building a few feet from him. Tails continued searching through a pile of baskets.

"Nothing..." the fox whispered to himself. He wiped a sweat off his forehead. "It's starting to burn out here." He looked beside him. "Hey, what's that." A few feet from him, was a huge bag with a picture of a coin at the side. It was definitely a coin bag. Curious, the fox walked up to it and opened the bag. He peeked inside. "Whoa..." Inside, was a big pile of blue coins. In the Mushroom Kingdom, blue coins were worth the equivalent of five yellow coins.

"Wow! There's so many in here!" Tails exclaimed.

A voice came from behind him. "Yeah! There is!"

The fox was surprised. He looked behind him and saw these two men behind him, wearing long, black robes that covered their whole body, including their faces. The only thing you could identify from both of them was the two, big pink noses that stuck out from their faces were. The difference from each of them was one was short and plump while the other was skinny and tall.

The disguised, plump man pointed to Tails. "Grab him!" He had a deep, gruff voice.

In a moment, the mysterious tall man grabbed another bag from his pocket and stuffed Tails in it. The fox yelped for help.

"Gah! This one is such a loudmouth!" complained the tall guy. His voice was higher than the plump man's voice, resembling a duck quack.

"Quick! Hurry! I hear someone coming!" the plump man demanded.

Yoshi came out from one of the buildings he was in and saw his friend getting kidnapped by two goons. "Tails!"

The plump man looked back, seeing Yoshi. "Oh no! It's that dinosaur!" He turned to the tall man, who held the bag with Tails over his shoulder. "Come on! Let's-a get a move on!" The two men abandonded the scene, bring along Tails as their captive. Yoshi chased after them. They ran around most of the east end of the Oasis Outpost until they came upon a blue pipe in a dead end alley.

The tall man looked back to Yoshi, who was exhausted from running. "See ya, dino breath!" He jumped into the pipe, with Tails still in the bag. Yoshi could hear his shouts from the pipe.

"Hey! Yoshi!" the plump man snapped at him. "Tell Mario, that I'm-a gonna be the richest man in the world!" He jumped into the pipe, giving out a maniacal laugh down the way.

Yoshi gasped. "Oh no! I'd better tell the others about this!" The dinosaur quickly ran around town, desperately searching for his friends.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

_

* * *

_

_Oh no! Looks like there has been a foxnapping in the peaceful town of Oasis Outpost! Will our heroes save our fox friend? Who are those two mysterious cloaked men? And why does the town seem to be deserted? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_

**_Author Notes: Got this chapter done! Yay! You can kind of tell that the Hot Hot Desert is supposed to be based off most of the desert levels of the Mario games. I based the Oasis Outpost from the Dry Dry Outpost from the Paper Mario series. I just added a few changes to give it a unique feeling. I'm quite happy with this chapter. I added lots of good communication between the characters. If you know your Mario characters, you may recognize the two mysterious men! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! _**

**_This is also the 20th chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite! Kudos for this great achievement! I wouldn't have come this far without the support from you guys!_**

**_Check out my profile for updates on my fanfictions!_**

**_P.S. This is the first chapter I've done on a Mac. It's not my Mac though, so this may be the last time I upload a chapter with a Mac._**

_**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They both belong to Nintendo and Sega.**  
_


	21. Identity of the Foxnappers!

**_Chapter 21: Identity of the Foxnappers!_**

**_Hot Hot Desert, Oasis Outpost..._**

"Mario! Sonic! Anyone!" Yoshi shouted out. The lone dinosaur searched around the ghost town of the desert, desperately searching for his friends. Two mysterious men had kidnapped Tails while they were looking through town, trying to find any civilians in the Oasis Outpost. "Ugh! This is really bad! What am I going to do? What's going to happen to Tails?" Yoshi was starting to panic. He turned around a corner of a building and luckily found Sonic and Amy, looking into another open window of a house. The dinosaur ran up to them.

"Hmph, I don't see anyone in here either." Sonic said, with a disappointed tone. He scratched the s ide of his head. "Maybe everyone went out for vacation or something..." Amy just shrugged back to him. She still covered herself with the parasol Princess Peach gave to her. The hedgehogs were about to check back with the other heroes, when Yoshi accidentally bumped into Sonic. They both stumbled back.

"Ow! Hey!" The blue hedgehog got back to his feet and swept off some of the sand on him. "Yoshi! Make sure you watch where you're going!" He looked up to the dinosaur's face and saw the worried look he had. "Hey, is something the matter?"

"Tails got kidnapped!" Yoshi blurted out to them.

Amy gave a shocked look. "Tails got kidnapped? Do you know who did it?"

Yoshi shook his head. "I couldn't get a good look at the two guys who kidnapped Tails, mostly because they wore these weird-looking robes that hid their faces, but I _do _know where they headed off to!

"Then we've got to chase after them!" Sonic demanded. He punched his fist into the palm of his hand. "They won't get away with Tails."

"We should find Mario and Luigi first." Amy recommended. "They can help us deal with those two men that kidnapped Tails."

The trio rushed to the north end of the Oasis Outpost, which was where the Mario Bros headed to search for any more civilians in the town. They carefully searched around the area, but to their confusion, there was no sight of the both of them.

"Uhmm, are you sure Mario said he and Luigi were heading this way?" Sonic asked. He peeked into another building window, but didn't find anyone there. Suddenly, the trio heard a loud yell. It sounded like a scream from Luigi. The three headed for the direction of the shout. They found the Mario Bros fighting against a tall-looking cactus creature in the middle of the town. It was a Pokey. It had four body segments, including it's head, which was at the top of the it's body. A large, pink flower grew on top of it's head.

"Mario! Luigi!" Yoshi shouted to them. Mario looked back to them, then gave them a signal with his hand that told them to stay back. Luigi was beside his brother, already holding his hammer ready to attack.

The Pokey looked at them ferociously, then prepared to attack. It teetered it's body back, then swiftly swung it forward towards the Mario Bros, attempting to hammer them. Both Mario and Luigi jumped out of the way in time. The Pokey slammed it's head into the ground with a loud thud. Luigi took the opportunity to attack the Pokey's head with a swing from his wooden hammer. His attack connected, and Luigi slammed his hammer into the back of the Pokey's head. The Pokey's body broke into four pieces, scattering off in different directions. The head disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Luigi sighed in relief, then wiped a sweat off his forehead. "Phew! That was scary!" The plumber put his wooden hammer back into his pocket. He looked back to the others. "What are you guys doing here? Did you find any people in this town yet?"

The trio shook their heads. "No." answered Sonic. "But, we've got some terrible news for you."

"Tails has been kidnapped!" Yoshi shouted out. "And it was all _my _fault!" The dinosaur sat down on the desert sand and looked down, ashamed of himself. "I ran away from them instead of trying to stop and help Tails." Amy went to comfort him.

"Yoshi." Amy comforted. "It's not your fault. There were two of them and only one of you, so you had no choice but to flee."

Mario walked up to them. "Do you know where these two men took Tails,i?"

Everyone looked to Yoshi,, hoping for an answer. "Yeah," replied the dinosaur. He quickly stood up on his feet. "They took this warp pipe in this dead end alley! C'mon! I''l show you!" The dinosaur took the lead of the group and showed them the area where the two mysterious goons took Tails.

"Hmm, it seems weird for a pipe to be placed here." Luigi commented as he looked down the pipe. He popped his head out. "Although, everything on our adventures have seemed weird, right bro?"

Mario went up to the pipe and looked down into it. "This pipe should lead us to where the two men took Tails. I'm-a have a feeling it'll take us through the underground tunnels of the desert."

Sonic groaned. "Ugh! We're going into the underground _again?" _He shook his head. "I'm kind of getting tired of _aimlessly_ walking through dark caves, but since one of our friends is in a crisis, I'm willing to suffer through another day of spelunking." He hopped onto the edge of the pipe. "Let's go!" He hopped down into the pipe, followed by the others. The heroes left the Oasis Outpost, leaving the town in dead silence, with only the sound of the desert breeze accompanying it.

* * *

**_Hot Hot Desert, Ancient Tunnels..._**

Under the scorching hot sands of the Hot Hot Desert, was a complex maze of tunnels, used by the people who lived there long ago to safely transfer to bodies of the dead to their respective chambers. On the walls of the tunnels, was ancient desert writing that had been carved into the walls and pictures that were painted beside the writings. No one could ever understand what it meant. Torches were placed through the tunnels so explorers could see where they were going. Unlike the Hot Hot Desert itself, the tunnels were much cooler in temperature.

In one of the dead ends of the ancient tunnels, were two robed men that were standing in front of a table. The table was in the left corner of the dead end tunnel. They were counting up stacks of blue coins. All of it came from the coin bag they had stolen. Beside the table, was a familiar fox. He sat down on the ground, with his back against the wall. The fox was helpless since he was tied up. Roped wrapped around his body, arms and feet. The fox just sat their, struggling to free himself from the ropes. The two men tied him up there so he wouldn't escape.

The tall, robed man looked back to the fox, then continued back to his coin counting. "Uh, what are we supposed to do with _that _thing?" He talked to the plump, robed man, who was just stacking up the ten blue coins he just counted.

"We'll just leave him here." answered the mysterious plump man. "We have no use for him, and besides, the Spinys down here get awfully hungry at night." He chuckled at the joke he made.

The fox used all the strength he could to try and break away from the ropes, but it had little effect. _Boy! These ropes are tight! _Tails thought to himself. He looked at the ropes, then looked down into the tunnel. _I hope the others realize that I'm missing. Who knows what these two men might do to me! _

The two robed man counted the last of their blue coins they had stolen. They hopped up and down and started to cheer. "Wahoo! We're rich! We're rich!" the tall robed man exclaimed.

The plump man picked all the blue coins on the table and shoved them into the coin bag. He then held the bag above his head. "Bwahaha! I can't believe we've hit the jackpot! 5,000 coins in the form of blue coins!" The looked to the tall robed man. "Just _think _about what we can buy with this kind of money!"

"I can finally buy that casino I've always wanted!" the tall robed man said. He fantasized about his own casino, themed after himself.

The plump man swung the coin bag over his shoulder. "Come on! Let's-a get out of these tunnels!" The two robed man started out of the tunnel, but Tails quickly shouted to them.

"Hey! Wait!" Tails yelled to them. He got the robed men's attention. "What about me? You can't just leave me here, alone!"

The tall robed man laughed. "Wahaha! Don't worry, fox boy! These tunnels are nice and cozy for you!" He walked up to Tails, with his hands against his hips. "And besides, you can keep the Spinys down here a little company." The tall man laughed again.

Tails gave a shocked look. The tall, robed man walked back to the plump man. They were going to leave him there. Alone. _Oh no! What am I going to do now? If only the others were here!_

The two, robed men were about to leave, when suddenly, they heard footsteps coming down the tunnel they were in. "Gah! Somebody followed us down here!" whispered the plump man to the tall man. "We need to find some place to hide!"

The tall man looked around in the dead end they were in. "There _is _no where to hide!"

Before they knew it, the heroes appeared right in front of them, blocking the only exit from the tunnels dead end. They saw the two, robed men arguing to each other. The robed men looked at the heroes. "Oh no! It's _them!" _yelled out the tall robed man. He cowered behind the plump man.

"Are these the men, Yoshi?" Mario asked him. The dinosaur nodded back. He looked back to the robed men and saw their pink noses stick out from their robes. _Hmm, they seem familiar..._

Sonic looked behind the robed men and saw his fox friend sitting back on the wall of the dead end tunnel. "Tails!" With his quick speed, the hedgehog swiftly ran around the robed men and to the aid of the fox. He helped Tails from the ropes that bounded him.

Tails sat up and stretched his arms. "Thanks Sonic. I knew you'd guys come for me."

The hedgehog patted the fox's back. "We can't leave our friends behind, remember?"

The robed men looked around them, realizing they were surrounded by the heroes. The plump man gave them a evil grin. "Ha! You think you've got us cornered, but you're wrong!" The plump man nodded to his tall partner. Suddenly, they both took off their robes, revealing their true identities. The plump man wore purple overalls, green elf-like shoes, white gloves, a yellow shirt and a yellow cap with a 'W' on it. The seemed obese, but his arms appeared to be muscular. The tall man wore black overalls, orange elf-like shoes, white gloves with a yellow upside-down 'L' printed on them, a purple long-sleeved shirt and a purple cap with another yellow upside-down 'L' on it. Both men had crooked-styled moustaches and elf ears.

The two men stood behind each other, back to back. "We are, the Wario Bros!" they both shouted out.

Both Mario and Luigi were surprised. "Wario! Waluigi!" yelled Mario. "What are you guys doing here?"

Wario showed the coin bag in his hand. "Just making a big deposit from this dusty old town! With all these coins that we stole, we're going to be rich!" Both Wario and Waluigi hopped up and down in their successes.

"They kind of look like Mario and Luigi." Amy whispered to Yoshi. "Only, _uglier!"_

"Well, they ain't good people either!" Yoshi answered. He turned towards both Wario and Waluigi and pointed at them. "You kidnapped Tails! You guys are going to be sorry!"

Waluigi laughed at the dinosaur's remark. "Haha! What are ya going to do, dino breath?"

Without warning, Yoshi stuck his tongue out and aimed it towards Waluigi, wrapping it around his leg. The ugly plumber tried to escape from Yoshi's grasp, but he failed to do so. He was dragged across the tunnel floor and into the dinosaur's mouth. Yoshi swallowed him whole. He rubbed his stomach. He suddenly gave a pained look and laid a large Yoshi Egg behind him. The egg teetered, since Waluigi was inside it.

"Gwah! Get me out of here!" shouted Waluigi.

Sonic and his friends gave a shocked look. "Did Yoshi just-" Sonic couldn't complete his sentence. The Mario Bros. weren't too surprised by his reactions.

Wario quickly scratched his butt. "Meh! So what? You can lay eggs!" Wario poked thourgh his back pocket, still carrying the coin bag over his shoulder, and took out a Bob-omb. "I'm not letting any of you stupid idiots get _my _coins that _I _rightfully stole!" Wario threw the Bob-omb towards Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Amy. The all jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, the Yoshi Egg that Waluigi was still in was in the Bob-omb's path and it was hit by the explosion. The egg cracked open and Waluigi was sent flying a few feet away from the tunnels dead end. The explosion was huge, causing a big cloud of smoke to emit in the ancient tunnel. The heroes couldn't see through the smoke.

Waluigi, who was clear out of the smoke, sat up from the explosion. He rubbed his butt. "Yeow! That-a hurt!" He looked at the cloud of smoke, and saw a shadow of Wario come out of it. He pointed in the direction of the tunnel's exit pipe.

"C'mon, Waluigi! Let's bolt this hunk of junk tunnel!"

Both Wario and Waluigi headed for the tunnel's exit pipe. The heroes couldn't see where they were going, due to the cloud of smoke blocking their vision. It seemed that the Wario Bros. would escape, but unknown to them, someone was there, waiting to stop them.

"HEY! YOU GUYS!" someone shouted in the tunnel. Both Wario and Waluigi stopped and looked around the tunnel, trying to find the unknown voice. Suddenly, a Fire Bro. jumped out of the shadows of the tunnel. He had an angry look on his face. "YOU TWO! You're the ones who robbed all the coins in the Oasis Outpost!"

The Wario Bros. shook their heads. "Uhm, we don't know about any robbery that happened!" Wario tried to convince the Fire Bro.

The Fire Bro. didn't believe him. He pointed to the coin bag that he carried. "Them what's in that bag you're holding?"

Wario looked at the bag, then hid it behind him. "Umm, nothing! It's just, you know...uh, my underwear!" He nodded his head. Waluigi gave a confused look to him, but Wario elbowed him. Waluigi nodded his head with him.

The Fire Bro. still didn't believe them. "You know, I shouldn't be wasting time with you two!" Suddenly, the Fire Bro shot two fireballs towards Wario and Waluigi. The both got hit, and squealed in pain. Wario dropped the coin bag. The two of them started running through the tunnel, screaming from the intense heat on their butts. They headed for the tunnel's exit pipe. Before they left, Wario yelled back to them.

"WE'LL BE BACK! YOU COUNT ON IT!"

The Fire Bro. walked up to the coin bag and picked it up. He checked inside it, relieved that all the coins were still there. He looked up to where the cloud of smoke was. It already faded away. The heroes were coughing from the smoke and were waving whatever was left of it away from them. The heroes saw the Fire Bro. holding the coin bag and went up to it.

"Uhm, who are you?" asked Luigi. He looked around. "And where are those two trouble makers?"

"I took care of them." the Fire Bro. answered. "And my name is Frank. I live here in the Oasis Outpost."

Sonic scratched his head. "The Oasis Outpost? You mean that ghost town up there? No one seems to be living there."

Frank nodded. "I know." He looked at the coin bag. "All of the civilians evacuated the town after those two robbed every house in the Oasis Outpost. They forced everyone to give up all of their life savings. I witnessed them put all of our coins in this bag. This is pretty much all the money we have in our small town. Without it, we can't trade with the other villages and towns in the Hot Hot Desert."

"So that explains why there was no one in the town." Tails said. "They ran away because of Wario and Waluigi."

"Hmph! Leave it to those _scumbags_ to cause all the havoc." Luigi added in.

"That must have been a terrible thing for the civilians to go through." assured Amy. "Where are they now, Frank?"

"Probably heading for the other towns to find a new place to live and start all over." Frank suggested. "But don't worry about it. Once I tell them that all of the money has been recovered, they'll all soon come back to this village." Frank looked up to the heroes. "I should thank you for the help. Without you, those two goons may have escaped by now."

"Well, we're heroes!" Sonic exclaimed. He gave a thumbs-up. "That's what we're here for!"

The heroes, and Frank, exited the the Ancient Tunnels using the warp pipe. They were back outside in the Oasis Outpost. Frank swung the coin bag over his head, then waved at them. "Well, it's been nice seeing a few travelers around here, but I must go now." Before he left, Tails asked him something.

"Frank, wait, before you go, can we ask you something?" Frank nodded, then waited for his question. "Well, we're here in the Hot Hot Desert because we're looking for a Power Star. Is there any chance that you've seen some sort of comet last night?"

Frank thought for a moment. "Well, now that you've mentioned it, last night while I was walking around town, I saw this shooting star fall down near the Tomb of the King Mummithwomp. If you are planning to go there, I must warn you. There are loads of booby traps placed inside there."

"Booby traps?" repeated Sonic. "But why?"

"Well, it's been rumored that inside the Tomb of the King Mummithwomp, lies a chamber where there is a great amount of treasure that has immense value. Many thieves have attempted to break into the pyramid and steal the loot, but they have failed due to the dangerous traps."

"Boy, that sounds a little scary." commented Luigi. He gave a small gulp.

"Anyway, if you are looking for the Power Star, you should head for the King Mummithwomp's Tomb. It is north from here. Good luck!" Frank soon headed out of the town. The heroes knew what they were going to do next.

"Well, what do you think, guys?" asked Sonic. "Are we up to the challenge?"

"I know we can do it!" exclaimed Tails. "As long as long as we stick together, nothing will stop us!"

"Okie-dokie!" Mario started. "Next stop, is the King Mummithwomp's tomb!"

Everyone else cheered. Tails got out his DS Horror and checked out the map for the Hot Hot Desert. Sure enough, the Tomb of the King Mummithwomp was just north of the Oasis Outpost. To the disappointment of the heroes, it was far away from the town.

"Oh no." complained Amy. "This is going to be a long walk. I'll be dead before we get there!" She opened up here parasol and covered herself in the shade.

"You know, if you _do _get tired, maybe Sonic can carry you?" Luigi suggested. He gave a small chuckle. Yoshi joined along with him.

"Oh, come on you guys!" Sonic complained. He didn't have anything else to say. He crossed his arms in an annoyed matter and looked away from them. Suddenly, something shaded him from the sunlight. He looked up and saw a parasol above him. He looked beside him and saw Amy, who smiled at him.

"Don't worry, Sonic. You don't have to carry me." she said in cheerful voice. "On the other hand, I though you might need a little shade from the sun."

Sonic was surprised, but soon felt grateful. "Thanks, Ames." The two hedgehogs started walking.

"Well, we better start walking if we want to get to the tomb before sunset." Mario insisted. He started walking. Tails soon followed him. Luigi and Yoshi looked at each other, shrugged, then followed the others. It was going to be a long walk before they get to the next Power Star...

Unknown to the heroes, they were being followed...

.

..

...

_To be continued_

* * *

_Our heroes are now taking their search from the Oasis Outpost to the treacherous tomb of the King Mummithwomp! Will they succeed in retrieving the next Power Star? Tune in next time for the upcoming chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_

**_Author Notes: Finally finished this chapter! Sorry for the 1-day delay. I couldn't get on the internet at the time, so I couldn't upload the chapter. I also kind of had some "writers block". But only for this chapter. There will be lots of action in the next chapter! I can guarantee it! I finally got the idea of adding in Wario and Waluigi into the story. They seem to be the comicol duo in the games, so I tried to add humor for them in the chapter. _**

**_I also might have to delay the release of the next chapter, since it'll be the holidays near the supposed release of the chapter._**

**_Also, check my profile for updates on my fan fictions. You can look forward to an upcoming "holiday" fanfiction this week. When? You've got to keep on eye on it! I can assure you though, it will be either a Mario or Sonic fan fiction. You'll just have to wait!_**

**_Hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for the support!_**

**__****I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**  



	22. Sneaking into the Pyramid!

_**Chapter 22: Sneaking into the Pyramid!**_

**_Bowser's Castle, Junior's Bedroom..._**

"Uhm, Junior? Are you in here?" the Koopa King calmly asked. He was at the door to Junior's bedroom. He knocked on it. He heard his son inside, playing around. Bowser had wanted to talk to Junior about the shadow figure that he and Kamek encountered in the Mushroom City.

"Yeah, papa?" Junior answered to him. He was inside, drawing something.

"Can I come in, son?" Bowser asked. "I need to talk to you."

Junior nodded to himself. "Sure, papa. Come in."

The Koopa King opened the door to his son's bedroom. He looked around the bedroom. In Junior's bedroom, he had a bed with a comfy 'prince-sized' mattress. A toy box was beside his bed, with lots of Koopa action figures inside. A window with the view of the volcano the castle was located in was to the right of the bed.

There were also crayon drawings that Junior had drawn. They were taped on the wall. One was a drawing of Junior and all of his brothers and sister. The rest of the Koopalings were usually out of Bowser's Castle, doing their own things. But they usually visited and helped out in their king dad's plans. Another drawing was of Bowser stomping on Mario. Junior shared the same amount of hatred towards the Mario Bros. as much as his father.

Bowser saw his son sitting on the floor, with a few crayons scattered on the floor. His paintbrush was laying beside him. He was drawing a picture. "What are you drawing there, Junior?"

Junior was surprised his father was already in his bedroom. He didn't want anyone to see his drawing, so he fell forward and covered it. "Oh, hi papa! I'm just drawing some Goombas and stuff like that."

The Koopa King nodded. He was surprised his son didn't want him to see what his drawing was. "So, Junior, remember when you went to the Mushroom City with Kamek and saw that shadow figure?"

Junior slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, it seems that you've been a little _troubled_ whenever we talk about the shadow figure." Bowser explained. "You seem not to like talking about it. Is there something that's bothering you, Junior?"

The Koopa prince quickly shook his head. "Of course not, papa! Why would you think I'd be concerned about that shadow figure? I mean, yeah, it's strong and all. Maybe a little scary, but to me it's nothing important to talk about."

Bowser nodded to his son. He thought for a moment. "Gee, that shadow figure must've been _really _strong to even be a hassle for the Mario Bros." He thought further. "If only we knew that shadow figure. It seems so determined to take out Mario as much as I want to. If we combined it's powers with Eggman's machines and _my _intelligence, I bet there's no way that the Mario Bros. and their furry friends could stand a chance against us!"

Junior gave a concerned face. "Uhm, papa? You're not saying you'd _want _that shadow figure to work for us, right?"

The Koopa King scratched his chin, carefully thinking of what his son said. "Wow! I wasn't thinking about that, but now that you mentioned it Junior, we should do it! We should attempt to get the shadow figure to team up with the Koop Troop!"

"Well, I think it's a bad idea!" Junior blurted out. Bowser looked at his son with a surprised face. He couldn't believe his son was actually disagreeing with him.

"What are you talking about, Junior?"

The Koopaling realized what he did, then looked away from his father, regretting himself. "Sorry about that, papa. I shouldn't have yelled like that. But I don't think it would be safe if that shadow figure was on our side." Junior tried to think of a reason. "I mean, if we somehow, _angered him, _he could betray us and, you know, that would be the end of the Koop Troop!"

Bowser didn't believe his son. "Junior, I'm your father, and I _know _that's not the reason you wouldn't want the shadow figure on the Koop Troop. Are you sure you're not just scared of the shadow figure?"

Junior looked down to his drawing, making sure his father still didn't see it. "No, papa. That's not the reason. It's just...I can't tell you why I don't want him in the Koop Troop."

The Koopa King decided to end the conversation. "Okay, Junior. If you don't want to talk about this anymore, I'm fine with." He headed for the door, but stopped. "You know, Junior, you should really think about it. Having that shadow figure on our side may be the best chance we have to fight against the Mario Bros. It could be the only way for us to annihilate them." Bowser exited his son's room.

Junior had a serious face on his look. "I know..." He looked back onto his drawing he was making. It showed himself fighting the Mario Bros. with his paintbrush. Beside him, fighting with him, was the shadow figure...

"I can't let them know...yet."

* * *

**_Hot Hot Desert, Mummithromp's Pyramid Entrance..._**

"Whoa! This pyramid is huge!" Yoshi uttered. The dinosaur gazed upon the gigantic pyramid ruin. It was the largest pyramid in the Hot Hot Desert.

The heroes had just arrived in front of the ancient MummiThwomp's pyramid. After a long walk through the Hot Hot Desert, fighting through the blazing temperature and salvaging their water, the group was relieved that they made it to the pyramid by late afternoon. Everyone was exhausted and were literally roasting under the bright sunlight. Well, _almost _everyone, except for Amy Rose, who was still under the refreshing shade of her parasol, given to her by Princess Peach.

"Amy! Please!" Luigi gasped. He was crawling on the warm, desert sand, tired from the long journey. "I'm-a boiling under this heat! _I need some shade!" _The plumber sank his head onto the ground and laid there

"Sorry, Luigi." Amy said in a remorseful voice. "But, uhh, there's only room under the parasol for one person."

"_FOR ONE PERSON!" _Luigi repeated. He pointed beside Amy. Sonic was with her under the parasol. He was drinking his canteen of water and felt comfortable under the cool shade. "Then why is he allowed under the parasol?"

"Come on, Luigi. Lighten up!" the blue hedgehog encouraged. He slowly walked out from under the parasol's shade and into the blazing sunlight. "It's not _that _hot out here! In fact, I could go out for a jog right now and not even break a sweat!"

Luigi gave an annoyed look. "Whatever you say, Mr. _Fastest Thing Alive._" The plumber slowly crawled up to his brother. He was standing in front of the pyramid's entrance, along with Tails and Yoshi. He carefully inspected the structure of the pyramid. It was huge, of course. Various pillars surrounded the ruin. The pyramid was made up of huge, sturdy bricks made of sand. From the gentle breeze, you could see grains of sand fly off the pyramid.

What made the Mummithwomp's Pyramid unique was the picture of a demonic, Thwomp that had been carved in front of the ruin. It distinguished the pyramid from all the others in the Hot Hot Desert.

"So, what might the plan be, bro?" Luigi asked. He slowly stood up from the ground and swept off the sand on his clothes. He looked up at the pyramid. "How are we going to get the Power Star in this treasure tomb?"

Mario thought for a moment. "Well, for one thing, we must-a really be careful. There's-a lots of traps in the Mummithwomp's Pyramid, and if we don't caution ourselves, we could get in-a big trouble!"

"Are you _sure _that the Power Star is here?" Yoshi asked. The dinosaur was a bit reluctant to enter the pyramid. He looked around the desert, spotting other pyramids in the distance. "Maybe we should check the other pyramids before we search this one!"

"I'm afraid we'll have to pass that down, Yoshi." Tails answered. He was using his DS Horror. Using the stylus that came with it, he swiped around the menus until he came upon the "Star Searcher" app. It was a gadget that E. Gadd programmed into the DS Horror which would help the heroes find the Power Stars. It would search for any readings of Power Star energy near the area. The fox opened the app and used it. The program gave a signal, showing that a Power Star was indeed in the Mummithwomp's Pyramid. "It looks like we're going to have to enter the pyramid."

The heroes walked into the entrance of the Mummithwomp's Pyramid. Inside the pyramid, it was much cooler than the outside, which was a relief to all of them. The heroes were in a giant, stone hallway. They were painted brown. Torches were on the sides of the wall, so you could see inside. The heroes were careful, making sure they wouldn't run into a trap. After a while of walking through the hallways, the heroes weren't as tense anymore.

"Hmph, this isn't so bad." Luigi commented. He wasn't afraid as much as he thought would be. "You know, I imagined by now we would get thrown into booby traps, but this is actually going well." The plumber would soon regret those words.

Not looking where he was going, Luigi stepped through a hidden wire near the floor. Suddenly, a loud, rumbling noise was heard in the hallway. The heroes stopped in their tracks.

"Uhm, what was that?" Amy asked the others. Everyone looked at each other, except Luigi, who was looking by his feet. He sweat dropped.

"Hehehe...wow! I was hoping this wouldn't happen..." the plumber crouched down and picked up the broken wire. He looked at everyone embarrassingly. "This may be bad for us..."

Suddenly, another loud rumble was heard in the hallway. Unexpectedly, the heroes heard something rolling behind them. They were afraid to look. After summing up the courage, Yoshi decided to look back. To his horror, a humongous boulder was rolling towards them.

"_WAAAAAAAAH!" _Yoshi hollered. He quickly started to run. "_DINOSAUR SIZED BOULDER COMING THROUGH!"_

The rest of the heroes quickly looked back and saw the boulder rolling towards them. Wasting no time, everyone ran away from the boulder, hoping not to get rolled over. They ran quickly through the hallway.

"What are we gonna do!" Tails yelled to them. He was desperately running from the boulder.

Sonic quickly thought for a moment, trying to find a way to get out of the boulder's way. He glimpsed at his fox friend, and came up with an idea. "Tails! You're going to have to fly us _over_ the boulder!"

The fox looked back at his hedgehog friend. "Are you sure? That boulder is coming up fast!"

"You're going to have to be quick!" answered Sonic. "It's the only way. "

Tails hesitated for a moment. Quickly, he propelled his two tails in a helicoptor motion. He flew in the air and one by one, picked up his friends. They all tightly grabbed each other, with Tails carrying all of them. The fox flew up high in the air, hoping to be just above the boulder's path. The boulder rolled by them, barely missing them by a few inches. Tails flew all of them back onto the ground.

"That was a close one!" Yoshi exclaimed. "Good job, Tails! You really saved us!"

The fox smiled. "Thanks, Yoshi."

The heroes looked to where the boulder was rolling. A big crash was heard where the boulder was. The heroes assumed it had reached the end of the hallway. If they had kept running, they could've been squashed between the wall and the dangerous boulder.

"I'm-a guessing from all that running, we've almost reached the end of the pyramid." Luigi guessed. "And we haven't seen the Power Star yet. What gives?"

Tails checked his DS Horror. The signal of the Power Star was still the same. "I think we might have passed the Power Star while we were running for our lives. We should go back down the hallway and check if we missed something."

"Or we-a could check here." Mario said to them. He was looking down another hallway which connected to the hallway they were in. It was dark inside, with no torches to give them any sight.

The fox directed the DS Horror towards the hallway. Suddenly, the signal became stronger. "Jackpot!" Tails pointed in the hallway. "The Power Star is in there! Let's go check!" The heroes followed Tails into the dark hallway. They could barely see a thing. Everyone had kept bumping into each other, trying to find their way in the dark.

"Oww! Yoshi!" yelled out Luigi. "You stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry." The dinosaur apologized. He put his hand forward into the dark, not knowing what he'd touch. "Hey! What's this spikey thing?"

Sonic felt something touch his head. Thinking it was a bug, he quickly jerked forward. "Gah! What was that?"

"Oops! That must've been me again!" Yoshi apologized again.

The blue hedgehog became a little irritated. "Tails, isn't there some sort of "flashlight" function on that DS Horror of yours?"

Tails checked through the menus. Luckily, there was a "Bright Light" app programmed into it. Tails selected the app. Suddenly, a small lens appeared on the back of the DS Horror. It turned on, giving off a bright light.

"That's _much _better!" Luigi said. The heroes could now see where they were going. The heroes looked forward of them to see where the hallway was leading them to. A few feet away from them was a ladder, supposedly heading into another chamber of the pyramid.

Mario pointed to the ladder. "Let's-a go!"

The heroes walked quickly towards the ladder. Tails led the group. Everything was going well, until suddenly something bad happened. Right when the group was almost in front of the ladder, Tails stepped on a tile and it suddenly sank down.

"Huh? gasped the fox. He lifted his foot. The tile went back in placed. A loud, rumble was heard in the hallway.

Luigi sighed. "Here we go again..." Unexpectedly, the walls in the hallway started to move. They slowly moved towards the heroes.

"Oh no! The walls! They're going to crush us!" Amy shouted out.

"Quick! Everyone, up the ladder!" Sonic demanded. One by one, the heroes climbed up the ladder. The hedgehog himself was the last to climb up on it. The walls kept moving towards each other. It seemed like they weren't going to stop.

"What are we going to do?" yelled Yoshi. "The walls are going to turn us into pancakes soon!"

Tails pointed the flashlight up the ladder. To his surprise, there was a small opening on the roof. The ladder was connected to it. "I see an opening where the ladder ends! Hurry! We have to make it!"

The heroes quickly climbed the ladder. The walls were a few feet away from each other. Everyone climbed through the opening. Sonic was the last one to enter it. The hedgehog jumped into the hole. He heard a loud _boom _behind him. The walls had slammed together. The opening was now closed, due to the walls covering it. Everyone was breathing deeply.

"Now...that was a..._really _close one!" Luigi said to them.

The heroes looked around them. They were in the corner of some sort of large, giant room. Only, this room seemed more different than the whole pyramid itself. Instead, the room itself was piled with all different kinds of treasures, gold coins and jewels. The heroes realized they in the Mummithwomp's treasure chamber.

"Wow! Look at all this gold!" Yoshi exclaimed. He went up to one of the piles and picked up a hand full of coins and jewelry. "This stuff must be expensive!"

"I've never seen so much treasure in a room before." Sonic commented.

"This must be where the Mummithwomp's treasure was stored after his death." Tails explained.

"Why would he keep all his treasure in the pyramid?" Luigi asked. "_I _think he should have put all this on his _will_ list, or something."

Tails began to explain. "Well, the people of the Hot Hot Desert must have believed that when someone dies, they go into the afterlife and bring whatever they have in their resting pyramids. I'm guessing the Mummithwomp wanted to bring all his valuable in his afterlife."

The group was too busy to listen to Tails' explanation and instead, were looking at the treasure. Tails gave an annoyed look and decided to also look at the treasure. The gold coins sparkled in the room. There were various jewelry lying in the pile of coins such as sapphires, rubies and emeralds. There was even diamonds, pearls and rare platinum! The group was amazed how the Mummithwomp had all this treasure!

While the group was looking at the treasure, they heard a voice. They all looked at each other. None of them had spoken. They heard another voice. The heroes realized they weren't the only ones in the treasure room.

"What was that?" Amy whispered to them. "It sounded like someone was talking."

The group listened carefully. Mario heard where the voice was. It was coming from the other end of the treasure room. He quietly tiptoed over the pile of coins. To his shock, in the middle of the treasure room, were a group of Boos. They were all picking up all the coins and jewelry in their part of the room and were shoving it all inside this big, wooden chest. Leading the clan of Boos, was none other than their leader, King Boo. Beside the King Boo, was a familiar blue-tinted Boo. He was slightly bigger than the average Boo, but not as big as King Boo himself.

"Hurry up, my Boo bunch!" King Boo demanded. "I want this treasure chest filled to the top with coins and jewelry! After this, we'll use the money to build ourselves a much bigger, more _gruesome _mansion for our Boo society! One that shall be the most haunted places in all of the Mushroom Kingdom!" The rest of the Boo's cheered.

Mario ducked his head down behind the pile, so the Boos wouldn't see them. The heroes looked at him with curious faces.

"What's going on, Mario?" Sonic asked. "Who's there?"

"Look for yourselves!" the plumber whispered to them. The others decided to see what Mario was talking about. They were shocked to see that a big group of Boos were in the pyramid.

"Boos! And so many of them!" Tails said. "What are they even doing here anyway?"

"It looks like they stealing the Mummithwomp's treasure!" Yoshi whispered to them. "Those greedy ghosts!"

Luigi was the most scared to see the Boo clan in the pyramid. It was pretty much the last thing he'd ever want to do in his whole life. He then recognized King Boo leading his small army of ghosts. He whole body shook at the sight. "I-I-I can't believe that the B-B-Boos are here!" He ducked down behind the pile of treasure and sat on the floor, doing a fetal position.

"Who knew that the Boos even had their own King!" Amy whispered. She noticed the blue Boo. "Isn't that the same Boo we encountered back at Gadd's Laboratory?"

Sonic nodded. "It must be. I even recognize that scary face of his." The group watched as the blue Boo floated around the treasure chest for a bit. Then, something caught the eyes of the blue Boo. He floated towards their direction. The heroes quickly ducked their heads behind the pile of treasure.

"Oh no! He must've spotted us!" Yoshi panicked. "We're doomed!"

The heroes waited for the blue Boo to float down to them and attack. To their surprise, the blue Boo didn't attack them. In fact, he didn't notice them at all. The blue Boo had his eye on something near the pile of treasure the heroes were next to. It was something that stood out from the rest of the treasure. The blue Boo picked up the item and showed it to King Boo.

"Master!" the blue Boo said. "What is this object I have in my hand?"

King Boo turned around to see what his ghost advisor was talking about. He gave an amazed look. "Why that is...a Power Star! I've never seen on up close before!"

The heroes heard the word, "Power Star" come out of the king's mouth. They all looked at each other again, with worried looks.

"What is a Power Star doing here in a place like this?" the blue Boo asked. King Boo thought for a moment.

"Well, I _have_ heard rumors of Power Stars falling from space every night, but I never believed them. May I see it?" The blue Boo gave the Power Star to King Boo. He made a satisfied smile. "With this Power Star, I can use it to give the Boo clan more supreme power and strength!" The rest of the Boos cheered and gave out their signature laughs. King Boo carefully laid the Power Star into the treasure chest. The chest itself was almost filled to the top. "Okay, my Boo clan! A few more piles of treasure and we'll soon be out of this pyramid!"

The heroes didn't know what to do.

"This...looks..._baaaad!" _Luigi whispered to the rest of the heroes.

There was no choice. Either the heroes have to somehow _sneak_ the Power Star away from the Boo clan, or fight for it...

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Looks like our heroes are in a tight situation! What will they do? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Well, now that the holidays are over and it's now the New Year I've finally decided to post the next chapter of this epic story! I think I did decent in this chapter. There was so much more I wanted to add, but I didn't want to make this chapter too long. I have a limit to my chapters and I try to make them the same length. So, King Boo has finally made his debut. If you're wondering about that blue Boo, he's kind of King Boo's advisor and bodyguard. He's kind of an made up character. **

**Also, at the beginning of the chapter, there is a side plot going on that has something to do with Bowser Jr. and the shadow figure. What is it about? I can't tell you yet. So if you're counting the plots in Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite, there are:**

**1) Mario, Sonic and their friends trying to find the Power Stars**

**2) Bowser and Dr. Eggman coming up with a master plan to annihilate three heroes.**

**3) Something between Bowser Jr. and the shadow figure.**

**All these plots are important to the story and they _will _lead up to something. I don't think I spoiled anything. Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed your Winter Holiday and I also hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! See you guys next time, and thanks for the support! Check my profile for updates on my fanfictions!**

******I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**  



	23. Treasure Trouble!

**_Chapter 23: Treasure Trouble!_**

**_Mummithwomp's Pyramid, Treasure Room..._**

The heroes were in a tight situation. While on their search for the Power Star, they came upon the pyramid of the sacred Mummithwomp King. After barely avoiding through the treacherous traps, they discovered a secret chamber in the pyramid. It was the treasure room, where all the prized possessions of the Mummithwomp were stored. It was also the place where the Power Star conveniantly landed in.

For the heroes, this was a relief to them. Now they knew where the Power Star was! But to their dismay, it was in the hands of the cruel and frightening King Boo! He and his army were carrying out a pyramid raid and to their luck, they had found the Power Star before the heroes could. What made this situation worse, was that the heroes were right in the middle of King Boo's heist. Luckily for them, King Boo and his army were oblivious of their presence.

Our heroes hid behind a pile of valuable coins and jewelry. They could only watch in silence as King Boo and his Boo clan stole all the treasures in the room and throw them in this large, wooden chest. The Power Star was also thrown inside the chest. The Boo clan intended to use the treasure for their own deeds.

King Boo gave out a slow, evil laugh. It could give anyone the chills if they ever heard it. "Hurry up, my Boo minions! Once we have collected all the treasure in this dusty old pyramid, we shall use it to build our very own mansion! One that is much bigger, and more gruesome than the last!" The Boo minions cheered for their leader.

A mysterious, blue-tinted Boo was floating beside King Boo. He was thinking about the Power Star inside the chest. "Your Ghostliness, what shall we do with Power Star that we've obtained?" King Boo looked back to his advisor with an evil grin.

"That is a very good question, Bloo." King Boo floated around the room for a bit. The heroes ducked behind the piles of treasure, making sure they wouldn't be seen. King Boo explained to Bloo about his plan. "You see, Power Stars are mystical artifacts that possess great amount of power and energy. If the Boo clan is able to _use _that kind of power, we could be unstoppable. Everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom would fear us!"

Bloo thought for a moment about King Boo's plan. The Boo society possessing unstoppable power? Just by using the energy of _one _Power Star? "King Boo, I must say, that is the most brilliant plan I've heard yet!"

King Boo gave out another evil laugh. He appreciated of Bloo's praise. King Boo floated back to the treasure chest the Boos were filling up. It was almost full. Soon, the Boo clan would depart from the Mummithwomp's Pyramid, taking along the Power Star with them.

The heroes had carefully listened the conversation between King Boo and Bloo. They were horrified about what King Boo was going to use with the Power Star. The heroes quietly sat in a circle and conversed with one another. They had to think of a plan to sneak the Power Star away from the Boo clan without getting caught.

They all thought for a moment, then Luigi came up with an idea. "I've got it." He carefully grabbed a handful of coins from the pile they hid behind and showed it to his friends. "Why don't we cover ourselves with treasure and use it as a disguise to steal the Power Star? The Boos will _never _know!"

The rest of the heroes looked at him with doubtful looks. Luigi realized how idiotic his plan was, and smacked himself on the forehead. The heroes continued thinking. They had had to quickly think of a plan. Something that could get them the Power Star.

Amy had came up with a few ideas in her head, but was unsure if they would work. She stopped for a moment and looked at Yoshi. He was silently playing around with his tongue. Yoshi waved his tongue around in the air, doing all kinds of moves with it. Amy remembered how long Yoshi could stretch out his tongue and came up with an idea. "Hey guys, I think I know how we can get the Power Star from the Boos."

The heroes looked to Amy and listened carefully to her plan. "Alright, so we know how far Yoshi can stick out his tongue, right?" The heroes nodded. Yoshi, who was still fooling around with his tongue, froze when he heard his name. Amy continued to explain. "So, why doesn't Yoshi use his tongue to quickly sneak the Power Star out of the Boo's treasure chest without them knowing?"

The heroes thought about Amy's plan. To them, it seemed like it was the only way for them to retrieve the Power Star. "I think it might work." Sonic said. He looked to Yoshi. "Do you think you're up for it, Yoshi?"

"Uhm..." Yoshi hesitated for a moment. Were they crazy? He knew that if they attempted the plan, he would somehow mess up and they would be caught by the Boos. "I don't know, what if I do something wrong?"

Suddenly, the heroes heard King Boo's laugh boom out from the silence. They hastily ducked their heads back behind the pile of treasure, listening to King Boo. "Good job, my Boo minions! The treasure chest is almost full. Just a few more gold coins and we shall flee from this pyramid with both the treasure _and_ the Power Star."

The heroes looked desperately to Yoshi. They were running out of time. "Yoshi! Please, you've got to do this." said Luigi. He quickly crawled to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're the only one that can get that Power Star. If you don't, then you're going to let down not just Sonic and his friends, but the whole Mushroom Kingdom."

Yoshi stared back at Luigi, seeing the reassuring look on his face. He felt a sudden burst of courage swell up inside him. Yoshi looked back at the treasure chest, seeing the Power Star cluttered inside. He stood up from behind the pile of treasure, still out of the Boo clan's view. In an agile pace, he tip toed quietly towards the treasure chest, frequently hiding behind the piles of coins to avoid the Boos vision.

The heroes watched Yoshi's brave action. He soon got behind a pile of treasure which was situated right next to where the Boo clan was. Yoshi waited until all the Boos were not looking. He only had one shot at this. He looked back at the Power Star in the treasure chest. He gave a deep breath. Swiftly, he shot his tongue towards the treasure chest, aiming at the Power Star. His tongue wrapped around it. Yoshi carefully lifted the Power Star out of the chest. Coins and jewelry moved about. Yoshi quickly jerked back his tongue, taking the Power Star along with it. He took it out from his tongue and held it in his hands.

"I've got it." Yoshi whispered to himself. "I've got the Power Star." The others silently cheered for Yoshi. They were proud of him.

Yoshi was about to sneak back to the others, when suddenly a shout was heard in the treasure room. It sounded like it came from the roof. "Hey! Everyone! Stop in your tracks!" Yoshi looked up on the roof. There, hanging on a thick rope, were two familiar faces. It was Wario and Waluigi! They both held Bob-ombs in their hands.

King Boo and the rest of the Boo clan looked up, seeing the Wario Bros. on the roof. They were surprised the two scoundrels were here. Yoshi panicked and quickly rushed back to the heroes. He made a loud shuffling noise with his shoes. Waluigi spotted him in the pile of gold coins.

"Hey! You!" hollered out Waluigi. He pointed at Yoshi. "What are_ you_ doing here?" Yoshi froze. He slowly looked back to the Boo clan and the Wario Bros. He did his best to hide the Power Star from sight.

Bloo was suspicious of Yoshi's presence. He looked into their treasure chest. He gave a gasp. The Power Star was gone! He looked back at Yoshi, seeing he was trying to hide something. "You _thief! _You're trying to steal _our _Power Star!"

King Boo was surprised. He also looked inside the chest and found the Power Star no where inside. He turned to Yoshi, his face covered with a demonic look. "Hmhmhm...you thought you would get away with this, did you? Well, too bad!" King Boo gave out his signature laugh and commanded his Boo minions to give chase to Yoshi. All of the Boo's floated after Yoshi. He panicked and ran back to the heroes. Knowing that their cover would be blown, the heroes stood out from behind the pile of coins.

"Hey! It's the Mario Bros. and their furry friends!" Waluigi shouted out. He turned to Wario. He was throwing his Bob-omb up and down in the air. Wario wanted revenge on them.

"They're not getting away!" Swiftly, Wario chucked his Bob-omb towards the heroes. The explosive landed right in front of them. The Bob-omb exploded, causing the heroes to fly back from the force. The heroes hit their backs on the walls. Piles of coins and jewelry flew out in the air. The Bob-omb left a large whole in the floor.

The heroes quickly recovered from the Bob-omb attack. They had to escape the pyramid!

"Quick! We've got to get out of here!" Sonic said to his friends. He pointed to the hole. One by one, the heroes jumped into the hole, hoping it would lead them out of the pyramid.

King Boo commanded his Boo minions to chase after them. The group of Boos all flew into the hole. King Boo also commanded Bloo to follow them. Bloo nodded and flew into the hole. Being the only Boo left in the treasure room, King Boo decided to close the treasure chest and flee back to their Boo Base. He was going to deal with the heroes some other time. He carried the treasure chest inside him and flew out of the pyramid.

The Wario Bros. had sneaked down from the roof and gazed upon the piles of treasure that surrounded them. They each took out a coin bag and started shoving handfuls of coins inside.

* * *

_**Mummithwomp's Pyramid, Hallways...**_

The heroes were running through the hallways of the pyramid. The Boo clan was right behind their tail. They needed to find a way to escape them.

"How are we going to beat these guys?" Tails said to the others. He ran as fast as he could, with the aid of his tails propelling him forward.

Mario and Sonic turned to each other. They both nodded and soon stopped in their tracks. They both turned around to the Boo clan. They were determined to stop them.

"You guys go on ahead!" Sonic said to them. "Mario and I will deal with these Boos ourselves! Just make sure the Power Star stays safe!"

The others turned back. At first they all hesitated, but knew that Mario and Sonic could handle themselves. The four headed for the pyramid's exit. The Boo clan caught up to the heroes. They all gave out a menacing laugh. Bloo was leading the pack. The blue-tinted ghost was suddenly engulfed in electricity.

"You've decided to mess around with King Boo's plan!" Bloo said to Mario and Sonic. "Now, _both _of you shall pay the price!" Suddenly, Bloo shot out a blue bolt of electricity at the duo. They both swiftly dodged it. Mario and Sonic were surprised to see a Boo have the power to shoot electricity.

Sonic quickly rushed towards the Boos and prepared a Homing Attack. He aimed at one Boo and shot his Homing Attack, but unfortunately his body passed right through the Boo. Sonic was shocked.

"What, how?" Sonic jumped back, away from the Boos. Bloo laughed at his miserable attempt.

"You fool! We Boos are immune to physical attacks! You're phony attacks will get you _no where!"_ Bloo pointed at the heroes. The Boo clan slowly floated towards the duo. Mario and Sonic had to think of something.

Mario looked around. To his relief, an item box was floating near the side of the wall. He jumped up to it and bashed it with his hand. The item box opened, and on the top a Fire Flower popped out. Mario hastily grabbed it and turned into Fire Mario. He felt the Fire Flower's energy flame up inside him.

Sonic initiated a Spin Dash. He rolled towards the Boos at an extreme speed. He jumped into the group of Boos, but his body passed through them with no avail. Sonic rolled out of his Spin Dash and looked at the Boos, frustrated. How were they going to get a hit on them?

Mario looked to Sonic, then to the Boos. He came up with an idea. "Sonic! Charge up another Spin Dash on the Boos!"

Sonic was confused by Mario's plan, but started his Spin Dash with no question. He charged up his Spin Dash. At the same time, Mario was charging up a fireball. The fireball grew big in his hands. Once the fireball was large enough, Mario jumped over behind Sonic and shot the fireball on him. Sonic was shot towards the Boo clan, still doing his Spin Dash, but this time, his whole body was engulfed with fire. He was doing a Flaming Spin Dash!

Sonic dashed towards the Boos, his body still erupting in flames. He jumped right in the middle of the Boo clan, and suddenly they all caught in fire. The Boos panicked and floated around quickly, trying to cleanse themselves of the fire.

All the Boos shrieked out. "Aah! Someone get this fire off me!" "Help! It burns!" "Waah! How do Podoboos even deal with this?" Bloo had also been caught on fire by Sonic's Flaming Spin Dash attack. He floated around in circles, also trying to get rid of the fire. "Gah! This won't do at all! Boos! Retreat!"

The group of Boos quickly fled out of the pyramid. Bloo was the last on out. Before he left, he gave Mario and Sonic one last word. "Keep this in mind! This isn't the last time you'll be seeing the wrath of the Boo clan!" Bloo quickly escaped the pyramid.

Sonic had changed back from his Spin Dash form. Surprisingly, the flames from Mario's fireball had no effect on Sonic's body. There was no burn mark left on him. "Well, we handled those Boos pretty well." He looked up to Mario. "I was surprised that you covered me in fire while I was doing my Spin Dash. I thought I'd be scorched by then, but it looks like I'm alright."

Mario shrugged. "The world is-a full of surprises." He gave Sonic a thumbs-up. "Good job, by the way." Sonic grinned, then gave Mario a thumbs-up. The two soon headed for the exit of the pyramid, where their friends were waiting. They all were relieved to see the two okay.

"Hey! You guys are alright!" Tails exclaimed. He and the others rushed to Mario and Sonic. "What happened to the Boos? Are they gone? Did you beat them?" The two heroes nodded.

"I knew you two could do it!" Amy said. She had her parasol covering her. "Those Boos were no match against Sonic and Mario!"

Yoshi walked up to Mario and Sonic, holding the Power Star in his hands. "Here, you guys should keep this for now." He handed Mario the Power Star. The plumber looked at it shine brightly. It was their second Power Star they had acquired. It would help power up Gadd's Dimension Teleportifictationtron, which would allow Sonic and his friends back to their world.

_I wonder what exists in Sonic's world. _Mario thought to himself. He stuffed the Power Star inside his pocket. "Come on, you guys. Let's-a head back to Gadd's Garage."

The rest of the heroes agreed. They started heading back to the Oasis Outpost, which had the Warp Pipe that lead back into the Mushroom Plains. As they left the Mummithwomp's pyramid behind them, the Wario Bros. had just exited from it. They both were carrying two large bags of coins and jewelry. They had of course stolen it from the Mummithwomp's treasure room.

"Boy, Wario! Carrying this bag of gold is really starting to hurt my back!" Waluigi said. He swung the bag foward onto the ground and instantly rubbed his backside. "Tell me again why we needed to steal a lot of money?"

Wario gave an annoyed look. He was tired of repeatedly explaining the plan to Waluigi. "Don't you remember, Waluigi? We made a deal with this mysterious figure that if we brought him a ton of money, he'd give us the ultimate power for world domination!" He swung his bag of coins over onto his back. "Now come on, we have to hurry!"

Waluigi sluggishly dragged his bag of coins across the desert sand. He followed Wario. They were heading back to his palace, which was also located in the Hot Hot Desert. Waluigi hoped that Wario's plan would work.

"This had better be worth it!"

.

..

...

_To be continued!

* * *

_

**_Our heroes have gotten their second Power Star! Will it be enough to help send Sonic and his friends back home? And what are the Wario Bros. planning? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!

* * *

_**

**Author Notes: Well, here is the chapter you guys have been waiting for. Sorry for the VERY big delay. I guess I haven't had much inspiration lately for my stories. But now, that's over. I'll be making more chapters for my stories, and hopefully they're still be great to read from. Anyways, hope you've enjoyed this chapter and thanks for the. Check my profile for updates.**

**********I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**  



	24. The Secret Alliance!

**_Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

**_Chapter 24: The Secret Alliance!_**

* * *

**_Boo Woods, Gadd's Garage_**

The heroes had returned to Professor E. Gadd's Garage. After a sudden confrontation between the Wario Bros and a deadly battle against King Boo's ghost clan, our heroes finally retrieved their second Power Star. They quickly gave the Power Star to Professor E. Gadd, who used it's energy to power up the Dimension Teleportificationtron! It would help Sonic and his friends return back into their world.

Everyone was in the room with the Dimension Teleportificationtron. The machine made small, clanking sounds inside itself. Gadd was tinkering around on the control panel. He held the Power Star in his left hand. He was preparing to use it's energy to power up the machine.

Our heroes waited patiently for Gadd to prepare the machine. Yoshi and Luigi were playing a game of rock-paper-scissors. Tails was showing Amy a new "camera" app he installed on his DS Horror. Mario and Sonic were walking around the Dimension Teleportificationtron and inspected the various parts of the machine.

"I wonder if this time we'll be able to go back home." said Sonic. It had been almost a month since Sonic and his friends had seen their home.

"Tell me, Sonic." Mario began. "What's your world like? Is it-a different from our world?"

Sonic nodded. "It's _really _different from your world. You will never find a mushroom walking in your backyard." Mario gave out a small chuckle at Sonic's joke. He saw the expression on Sonic's face. It was filled with troublesome.

"Is-a something bothering you, Sonic?" Mario asked.

Sonic sighed. "I'm just a little worried about my friends back in my world. I mean, they may be wondering what happened to us." He thought for a moment about his friends. Were they worried about what happened to them? Do they even know if they had disappeared from their world?

"Don't worry, Sonic." Mario said. He tried to comfort him. "Once we get the Dimension Teleportificationtron to work, you'll soon be back in your world." He gave a sincere smile to him.

The two walked to the control panel where Gadd was working. He was just finishing the preparations to power up the machine with the second Power Star. "...there we go!" Gadd exclaimed. "Now, we can finally use the energy of this Power Star to power up the Dimension Teleportificationtron!"

Everyone in the room gathered around the control panel. Gadd opened up the compartment to the battery socket of the engine. He carefully placed the Power Star inside it. The Power Star shone brightly inside it. It spun slowly, sparkling inside the machine. Gadd closed the battery socket. He pressed the big, red button on the control panel. The machine made a long, charging sound. It consumed the energy of the Power Star.

"Is this it?" Tails asked. "Is the Dimension Teleportificationtron finally going to work?"

The machine made loud clanking sounds. The bulb on top of the machine glowed dimly. Suddenly, screeching sounds emitted from the machine. Everyone covered their ears. The machine's bulb shone brightly in the room. In a split second, the bulb's glass broke into pieces. The machine instantly shut off. Everyone was surprised.

"Ugh...now what happened?" Luigi asked. He crossed his arms, disappointed the machine didn't work.

Gadd went up to the control panel. He checked over the machine's statistics on a small screen. "Hmph! I see what the problem is." Everyone huddled around the control panel's screen. The statistics screen showed that the Dimension Teleportificationtron only had 31% of power. They needed more Power Star energy.

Amy sighed. "Well, it looks like we're going to need more Power Stars to get back home."

Sonic put his hand around her shoulder. Amy was a little surprised by his action, but she liked it. "Oh, come on. It's not that bad. We can collect more Power Stars, right guys?" He turned towards the others. They all agreed.

"Yeah!" Yoshi cheered. "If we work together, we can collect as many Power Stars as we want to power up the machine!" He wagged his tail. He was happy he'd have more time to spend with Sonic and his friends.

Gadd shook his head over the broken bulb. "Well, while you all are out retrieving more Power Stars, I'll be needing to replace the bulb for the Dimension Teleportificationtron." Gadd was about to go into his workshop and find a spare bulb when suddenly, his phone rung. Gadd scratched his chin. "My, my. I wonder who could be calling me at this time."

He went into his workshop to answer the call. The heroes waited for him. Soon, Gadd came back into the room. "It was a call from the castle. Apparently, the princess wants you all to meet her there. She has a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" Luigi exclaimed. A smile came onto his face. "I like surprises." He turned towards the others. "Come on, we should get going!"

The heroes said goodbye to Gadd. The rushed off to Toad Town, wondering what the surprise the princess had to offer for them...

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Throne Room_**

"Hmm...I wonder what's been going on with Junior lately." Bowser said to himself. "It's almost as if he is hiding something from me..."

Bowser was sitting alone in his throne room. After his chat with his son, Junior, he'd been thinking to himself. Was Junior keeping secrets from him? It was something unlikely for the Koopaling to do that. He and his papa shared a strong, father-son bond. And for some reason, he was hiding something from him.

"This has something to do about that shadow figure." said Bowser. He rubbed his chin. He had never seen the shadow figure before, but heard that it was awfully powerful and destructive. It even caused Mario and his friends to struggle before itself.

"If only I could witness it's own power and strength. Then I'd know if it would be worth trying to "recruit" onto the Koop Troop."

Bowser had expressed himself on the idea of trying to join forces with the shadow figure. He just didn't know how he would do it. How would he convince the shadow figure to team up with him? Even if he knew exactly how to, where would they find the shadow figure?

"This is _really _giving me a headache." Bowser said. He rubbed his forehead. He climbed out of his throne, making a loud thud when he stepped onto the floor. "I need something to drink." He was about to walk down the throne steps when Eggman barged into the room. He ran up to Bowser, carrying a rolled up blue print in his hand.

"Bowser! Your majesty!" Eggman panted. He stopped in front of the throne stairs to catch his breath. "I've just come up with the greatest design ever for our "doomsday" machine!" He climbed up the throne stairs to show Bowser his blue print. He gave it to the koopa king.

Bowser unrolled the blue print and carefully looked over at the design of the "doomsday" machine. His eyes grew wide in surprise. "Eggman...this...this is...amazing! Everything is perfect here! The weapons for the machine is fantastic. And the design! Hah! I love the design for it!" He turned to Eggman, who had a proud smile on his face. "You truly are an evil scientist."

"Why, thank you." Eggman answered calmly. He tried to hold in the excitement in him. Finally, he made a design that Bowser liked.

Bowser rolled up the blue print and handed it back to Eggman. "With this design of the "doomsday" machine, Mario and his friends will be no match against us!"

"And Sonic!" Eggman added. "Even Sonic wouldn't stand against us with the "doomsday" machine!" Eggman gave out an evil laugh. Bowser joined in with him. They were one step closer on their plan to annihilate their arch nemesis.

While the two villains were laughing, Junior had walked into the throne room. He was carrying his paintbrush with him. He saw both his father and Eggman laughing like crazy maniacs. It freaked him out a little. He called out to his papa. "Uhm, papa! I need to talk to you for a minute!"

Bowser and Eggman heard Junior calling out to them. They both stopped laughing and looked at the koopaling. They felt a little embarrassed.

"Oh, uhm, sure Junior." Bowser answered to his son. He turned to Eggman. "I want you to start building our "doomsday" machine right away." Eggman nodded. He rushed out of the throne room and hurried back to the castle's laboratory. Bowser sat back down in his throne, ready to talk to his son. "So, Junior. What is it that you want to tell me?"

"Listen, papa." Junior started. "I've been thinking about what you said to me earlier, and..." He paused for a moment. He couldn't believe what he was about to say. "...I wouldn't mind if the shadow figure joined forces with our army." He waited for his father's reply.

Bowser gave a small grin. "Junior, I'm proud of your decision. Now you know how important it is for us to have that shadow figure with us." Junior nodded back to him. Bowser then noticed his son holding his magic paintbrush. "Uhm, why do you have you're paintbrush with you, Junior?"

Junior quickly glanced at his paintbrush. "Oh, uh, I was just heading out to meet a friend."

Bowser nodded. "Which friend?" Junior thought it over for a moment.

"Uhhh...I just met him a few days ago. You don't really know him." He gave an awkward smile to his dad. Bowser gave a confused look. "Uhh, anyway, I gotta go! Don't wanna keep him waiting." Junior rushed out of the throne room, waving back to his dad. "Bye papa!"

Bowser still gave a confused look. He thought for a moment. Junior acted a little weird when he asked him about his "new" friend. Did he not want his papa to know about it? The koopa king shrugged it off, and went back to thinking about the shadow figure.

"Finally, my plan is coming together. Now how am I going to capture that shadow figure..."

* * *

**_Toad Town, Door to Princess Peach's Castle_**

It was sunset by the time our heroes arrived at Toad Town. They were greeted by the Toad guards, who let them enter through the town gates. The heroes had passed through the streets of Toad Town and arrived in the front doors of Princess Peach's Castle. There, they waited for the princess to come out and meet them.

"Boy! I wonder what the princess's surprise is!" Yoshi said. His tail wagged in excitement. Just like the others, he was curious about why Peach had called them over.

Suddenly, the front doors of the castle opened up. The lights from inside shone out. Princess Peach walked out, along with her advisor, Toadsworth. She greeted to all of the heroes. "Hello everyone. Thank you for coming here."

"It was our pleasure." Tails answered. He did a quick bow, showing his respect.

"So Princess," Luigi started. "Can you tell us what the surprise is now? Please?"

"Now, Master Luigi. No need to rush the princess!" Toadsworth lectured. He turned towards Peach. "She can have as much time to explain things."

"Toadsworth, please, it's fine." Peach said. She turned back to everyone, ready to tell them what her surprise was. "Now, the surprise I have wanted to tell you all was that my friend Daisy invited me to her luxury cruiser tonight for her birthday party. She has told me that I could bring guests there. I am wondering if all of you would like to come."

The group was excited, except for Sonic. Mario saw the troubled look on his face. "Why do you look so worried, Sonic?" Mario asked.

Sonic hesitated for a moment. "Uhm...don't cruisers go on the water?" Mario nodded back at him. Sonic quickly made up his mind. "I don't wanna go." This caught everyone's surprise, all except Tails and Amy.

"Are you crazy Sonic?" Luigi asked. "We're going to a party on a cruise ship and _you _don't want to go? Are you afraid of water or something?"

Sonic sighed. "This may be a surprise, but yeah. I am afraid of water." He was a little embarrassed from his confession. Luigi just stared at him with astonishment.

"Uhh..." Mario tried to give Sonic support. "You don't have to be scared, Sonic. It's-a going to be safe on Daisy's Cruiser."

Sonic still wasn't too sure. He sighed. "I still don't know about this."

"Don't worry, Sonic." Amy spoke up. She walked up to Sonic, comforting him."We'll make sure nothing bad happens while we're on the ship." Sonic saw the sincere look she gave him.

"Alright, I'll go." said Sonic. Everyone was delighted by his choice.

"So...how are we going to get to Daisy's Cruiser?" Luigi asked the princess. Peach gave the heroes a gesture to follow her. The group walked through the castle and into the royal gardens at the back. They headed towards the helicopter pad. The Cop Chop Helicopter was already waiting for them. Everyone climbed into the helicopter and sat in the passenger seats. Mario was the last to climb in. He closed the doors behind him.

Before he took his seat, Mario reminded Peach. "Princess, did you remember to get someone to look for the next falling Power Star tonight?" Peach gave a gentle nod. Mario smiled. He took his seat beside her.

Everyone was excited. They were going to a party on a cruise ship! The pilot Toad of the Chop Chop Helicopter started the engine. In a few minutes, they were flying in the air, heading to Daisy's Resort where the cruise ship was docked at...

* * *

_**Mushroom City, Atop the Empire Shroom Building**_

It was another busy afternoon in the Mushroom City. The sun was just setting, and all the citizens were heading home from work. Plentiful of cars, trucks and buses were driving in the streets. It was rush hour of the day!

There, on top of the Empire Shroom Building, was a familiar koopaling. He watched from above all the noise and chaos the traffic caused down in the streets. He sat on the very edge of the roof. He had his magic paintbrush tucked in his right hand. The koopaling was thinking carefully about something.

_Was it a good idea to do this? _Junior thought to himself. _I wonder what my papa would think if he knew what I was doing. _

Junior stood up. He tapped his foot. "What's taking him so long? I've been waiting here for almost half an hour." Suddenly, Junior heard a gurgling noise behind him. He quickly turned back, holding his paintbrush in battle position. Behind him, was a shadowy, purple mist. The mist floated around in a small circle for a moment, then it shaped itself into a figure. A figure of a hedgehog. The shadow figure opened it's yellow, glowing eyes.

Junior gave an annoyed look. "Well, you seem to make dramatic entrances!" The shadow figure ignored his comment. He raised his right hand in front of him. Suddenly, a painbrush object appeared in his hands. It looked just like Junior's painbrush, only it was in shadow form.

The shadow figure stared at Junior. "So...do you still have it? Do you still have what I gave you?"

"Yeah, of course." Junior answered. He reached inside his pocket and took out the object the shadow figure gave to him. It was a purple, translucent emerald. It gave off a bright shine from the sunset's light.

Junior looked back to the shadow figure. "Do you mind if you tell me what the plan was again?"

The shadow figure paused for a moment. Suddenly, he pointed his paintbrush in the air. Five balls of light surrounded him in a circle. The balls of light suddenly transformed into five other emeralds. Each emerald was a different color. There were red, blue, green, cyan and silver emeralds. The shadow figure began to explain his plan.

"There is a dark and dangerous world known as the Negative World. It is filled with unlimited negative energy. Anyone who is able to hold that power will become the most powerful and destructive being in the whole universe!" He glimpsed at the five emeralds that circled around him. "The only way to enter that world is by using the negative energy of the seven Chaos Emeralds to open up a portal. But, no normal being can do that. Only the seven star children have the power to do that. They have the Power of the Stars to use the negative energy to open up the Negative World!"

"So, you really think that _I _am one of the seven star children?" Junior asked the shadow figure. The shadow figure nodded. He reminisced his first encounter with Junior...

* * *

**_Bowser's Domain, One Month Ago..._**

That day, the shadow figure had just entered the Mushroom World. He had the seven Chaos Emeralds with him and _anothe_r_ artifact_ he had stolen from another world. The shadow figure used the artifact he had with him to transform into a shadowy form that he is today. To prevent anyone from finding the artifact, he disguised it as a paintbrush. That day, he begun his search for the seven star children. The ones that would help him open up the portal to the Negative World.

On his search, he came upon a land full of volcanoes and lava. He searched all around the area and found in one of the volcanoes a mysterious castle. He looked into one of the castle's windows. He had found the throne room. At the time, there were three figures in the throne room. One was the evil-tyrant, Bowser. The other, was Junior himself. The figure beside him, was none other than Dr. Eggman himself. This had caught the shadow figure by surprise.

He thought he had taken care of him in his world!

While the shadow figure was eavesdropping on their conversation, one of the Chaos Emeralds glowed. It was the purple Chaos Emerald. He shadow figure looked back inside and took a look at Junior. He thought that the Junior was one of the seven star children.

After Bowser had scolded Junior and Eggman about destroying _one of his prized airships, _the shadow figure talked to Junior privately in his bedroom. The shadow figure explained about his plan. After much thinking, Junior decided to from an alliance with the shadow figure. The shadow figure gave Junior the purple Chaos Emerald.

He told Junior that he'd meet up with him one month later, as he would search for the other six star children...

* * *

**_Mushroom City, Atop the Empire Shroom Building_**

"So...did you find any other star children?" Junior asked the shadow figure.

The shadow figure nodded. "Yes, I have." The shadow figure had given the yellow Chaos Emerald to a plump man in purple overalls and yellow hat. He had met him while searching through the Hot Hot Desert. "I had to put that star child through a test. To me, he didn't seem like he would be one of the star children. He was this grown man with a bad sense of fashion." The shadow figure looked up into the sky. "But...the Chaos Emeralds are attracted to the star children. They are like magnets to them. There is no doubt that you and that plump man are star children."

Junior nodded. He put the purple Chaos Emerald back into his pocket. "Do you know who the other five star children are?"

The shadow figure slowly nodded. "I have encountered them before in my journey through this world. But, to my luck...those three are with _them." _

Junior was confused. "Who's them?" he asked.

"My arch-nemesis from my world..." the shadow figure answered. "The one who thinks that _he_ is the real one..." The shadow figure felt anger grow inside him. Out of all the places in the universe, how did his arch-nemesis appear in this world? He remembered the encounter back in Empire City.

_The artifact made a mistake..._ The shadow figure looked at his paintbrush. _I did this so they wouldn't interfere with my plans! _

"Uhm...are you okay?" Junior asked. He had interrupted the shadow figures thoughts. The shadow figure looked up to him.

"I'm fine." the shadow figure assured. He snapped his fingers. The Chaos Emeralds that surrounded him disappeared back into his pocket. He turned his back towards Junior. "I'll continue my search for the other star children." The shadow figure was about to leave, but Junior stopped him.

"Wait!" Junior yelled. "You never told me who you were."

The shadow figure just stood there. He didn't say a word.

"You don't need to know...yet"

.

..

...

_To be continued!

* * *

_

**_Who exactly is the shadow figure? Who are the other "star children" that he's been talking about? Will the shadow figure and Junior's plan work? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

**_Author Notes: Well, I hope this was worth the 2-week wait for you guys. Hopefully, some light has been shed as to what's been happening between the shadow figure and Bowser Jr. I really like this chapter. It took a step away from what's been happening to the heroes and focused more on what's been happening to the villains. If you didn't know, the part where the shadow figure first met Junior took place during Chapter 7: Night In The Castle! Hopefully you guys like this chapter! There will be more action in the next chapter. See you guys next time and thanks for the support! Check my profile for updates on my stories!_**

******I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	25. High Seas!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 25: High Seas!**_

* * *

**_Skies above Daisy Resort_**

It was almost dusk by the time our heroes arrived at Daisy Resort. The Chop Chop Helicopter hovered above the area. The heroes peeked through the windows to get a glimpse of the resort.

The Daisy Resort was humongous. First off, the resort itself was a seaside resort. There was a large, orange hotel. In front of the hotel, were two large fountains, both having statues of Daisy and Luigi on them. Near the hotel, was a town that had baroque-styled buildings. The town had loads of entertainment for the resort residents, such as cinemas, nightclubs and restaurants.

The resort also had a docking area, where the Daisy Cruiser was docked at. Near the docking area, was the lighthouse. It stood near the end of the racing circuit that also ran through the whole resort area. It was used for racing events Daisy Resort held.

"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed. "This place looks amazing." Tails and Amy agreed with him. They've never been to a resort in a long time and already did the resort look great.

"I'm-a telling you guys," Luigi began. "you're going to _love _this place. There is _so _much stuff to do here."

"Yeah!" Yoshi joined in. "My favourite thing about the resort is the food. It's so delicious!" His mouth began to water just thinking about the resort's food.

The Chop Chop Helicopter started to descend into the Helicopter pad on top of the hotel. The heroes climbed out of the helicopter and headed inside the hotel. They were being led by a few of Daisy Resort's workers, which consisted of Orange Toads.

The group decided to wait in the lobby area of the hotel. At the time, there were lots of people entering and exiting the hotel, either to relax inside or to hang out in the town's various pubs. The lobby had a check-in desk, couches for relaxation and large, sphere chandeliers to light up the room.

The heroes sat on the couches, a bit exhausted from the day. After adventuring on a tropical island, going on a rescue mission in a jungle, carefully treading through a toxic forest and searching in the sandy deserts, our heroes greatly deserved a break.

"Uhm...Tails," Sonic said. He tapped his friend's shoulder to get his attention. "I have a question for you." The fox turned to him, carefully listening. "So...you know how cruise ships weigh almost a thousand tonnes? Well...how does something like _that _float on water?"

Tails chuckled. "Oh..don't worry, Sonic. I'm sure the cruise ship won't tip over. Here, let me explain how it works." Soon, Tails began how cruise ships were able to float on water due to it's shape, density and other things that boggled Sonic's mind. "...and that's how a cruise ship floats!"

"Uh...thanks Tail." Sonic said, pretending to understand what Tails had said.

Meanwhile, Luigi was constantly observing the lobby area, waiting for Daisy to arrive. Mario saw how impatient his brother was becoming. "Hey Luigi, she's-a gonna be here soon. Just relax for now."

"I know..." Luigi responded. He still kept an eye throughout the lobby. "But, it's been a long time since I've seen Daisy. And now the time I _do _get to see her is during her birthday and I haven't gotten a gift for her! What am I supposed to do? She might be mad at me!"

Mario patted his brother on the back. "Don't worry, bro. All that matters is you're here. That's the _best_ gift you can give right now."

Luigi looked at him with disbelief. Mario gave a simple, assuring nod to him, as if to say, "I'm-a you're big brother, so believe me."

Suddenly, a loud shout filled the lobby area. "Hey guys!" It was Daisy. She had just entered the hotel and was heading towards the group, waving at them. Peach was the first to greet her. They gave each other a hug.

"Oh, Daisy! It's so nice to see you." Peach said to her. She quickly took out her gift that she bought for Daisy. It was in orange gift box and had a red ribbon wrapped around it. She handed it to Daisy. "Happy Birthday Daisy."

Daisy took the present and carefully removed the ribbon. She opened the box and took out her birthday present. It was an exquisite-looking necklace, made up of gold and sapphire jewellery. It sparkled from the light in the resort lobby.

The heroes were struck with awe when they saw the necklace.

"It's_ so_ beautiful!" Amy gasped. She wished she had a necklace like that.

Yoshi was also pretty interested in the necklace. "Hmm...I wonder what it tastes like."

Daisy put on her necklace. "It's gorgeous. I love it!" She hugged Peach again.

Afterwards, the Mario Bros. greeted a Happy Birthday to Daisy. She gave a hug to each of them. Yoshi also gave her a hug, but kept his eye on the necklace the whole time. Afterwards, Sonic, Tails and Amy were the only ones left.

Peach showed them to Daisy. "Sonic, I'd like you and your friends to meet Daisy. She's the owner of the resort and the ruler of Sarasaland."

"So you three must be the ones from the _other_ dimension." Daisy said. "Peach has told me about you guys."

"Yup! That's us." Amy answered. "I'm Amy Rose. It's a pleasure to meet you." She shook Daisy's hand.

"Hi! I'm Miles Prower," Tails introduced himself. "but you can call me Tails." He also shook Daisy's hand.

"And I'm Sonic," the blue hedgehog pointed to himself with a grin. "Sonic the Hedgehog. I just want to say, Happy birthday, princess."

Daisy smiled. "Aww, thanks! You three seem really nice." She turned back to Peach. "So, why don't we head out to the Daisy Cruiser right now? We have a _lot_ of birthday partying to do! "

The rest of the heroes agreed. They soon exited the resort and headed out for the dock area, where the Daisy Cruiser was waiting for them. They all couldn't wait for the events that were planned for the night. Well, almost everyone.

The heroes already arrived near the lighthouse area where the cruiser was docked. While the heroes were walking, Sonic had terrible thoughts about the cruiser. _What if the boat sinks? How does a big ship even float on water? They better have life jackets there! _His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice.

"Sonic? Are you okay?" The blue hedgehog looked up and saw Amy in front of him. She had a curious look on her face.

"Oh...Amy." Sonic said. He didn't want to tell her that he was still worried about the ship. "It's nothing, really." He tried to assure her, but she crossed her arms. Amy knew that Sonic was still afraid of going on the ship.

"Sonic, there is nothing to worry about. Nothing bad could happen on the ship." she reassured him. She slowly walked up to him, giving him a "But, if you're still afraid, you could hold my hand on the boat."

"Uhh..." Sonic wasn't surprised from Amy's attitude. He knew she liked him, and he really cared about her too. It was just that he didn't return the _exact _same feelings. "Thanks, but I think I'll be okay now. Maybe next time." He looked forward and saw that the rest of their friends were already far ahead of them. "Hey, we should catch up with the others."

Amy was slightly disappointed. She followed Sonic to the others. While they were walking, she thought about her and Sonic. Was there ever a chance they would be together? She had been chasing him all these years, but nothing ever changed between them. Throughout the years, there were times she thought of giving up, but she had a striving force that kept her going.

The two hedgehogs caught up with the others. They found themselves staring in front of the Daisy Cruiser. It was titanic in size! On the sides of the ship, you could see the numerous windows of the cabins. There was also a large picture of Daisy's face on the side, clearly indicating it was her cruiser. There was a long canopy walkway that led to the ship's entrance.

Daisy turned towards the others and held her hands into the air. "Come on, everyone! It's time to party!"

The heroes cheered. One by one, they climbed up the canopy walkway, looking forwards to the night's festivities...

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Laboratory Room_**

The laboratory was being used at the moment by Dr. Eggman. After Bowser approved of his blue print for their "doomsday" machine, he hastily started building it. The Koop Troop rounded up the necessary supplies he needed to build it. Eggman had the machine covered under a large, beige blanket. He didn't allow anyone, except for Bowser himself, to look at the unfinished machine.

The laboratory door suddenly opened. Bowser slowly entered the room, holding a submarine sandwich on a plate. "How is progress going, doctor?" Bowser asked. Eggman was under the blanket, busy working on the machine. "I brought you something to eat. Thought you might be hungry from all the excessive working."

The doctor slipped out of the blanket. He removed his goggles and wiped off the sweat on his forehead. He turned to Bowser. "Progress is going as planned. If I keep at this rate, the doomsday machine should be finished in no time." He put down the wrench in his hand on a nearby work table and picked up the sub sandwich on Bowser's plate.

"Good," Bowser said, nodding in satisfaction. He looked at the blanket that covered the machine, curious to what Eggman had finished. "Do you mind if I see?" By the time, Eggman had already finished half of his sub sandwich. He put the food down on his work table and carefully lifted part of the blanket up, allowing Bowser to see the machine. He was impressed by Eggman's work. "Good work, Eggman."

"Why thank you, sire." Eggman said. "I can assure you, once this machine is done, Sonic and Mario won't stand a chance against us!

"Indeed it _will!"_ Bowser added. He gave a short, evil chuckle. "They'll be on their knees, begging for mercym from us!" He started giving out a long, evil laugh. Eggman joined him. They couldn't wait to stomp their arch-rivals like little, annoying bugs.

Suddenly, Junior walked into the room and, once again, saw the two villians laughing maniacally. "Uhmm...papa?" Bowser and Eggman quickly stopped laughing and looked back at Junior. They couldn't believe they've been caught laughing like two crazy maniacs again.

"Uh...what is it, Junior?" Bowser said, embarrassed again.

Junior shrugged. "I don't know. I just heard laughing and decided to see what was going on." He noticed the beige blanket that seemed to cover something big. "Hey, what is that?"

The two villians looked back to the covered doomsday machine. "Oh this," Eggman said. He patted the machine with his hand. "It is a project that me and your father are working on."

Junior nodded. At the moment, he wasn't interested in their machine. "Okay, well, I've got to go." Bowser and Eggman nodded and turned back to their doomsday machine. Junior was about to leave when suddenly he heard a sparkling noise. It came from his pocket. He stuck his hand inside and took out the purple Chaos Emerald the shadow figure had given to him. It started to glow with a purple aura.

"Hmph...that's weird." Junior said, with a surprised look. "It wasn't doing _that_ before." He stuck Chaos Emerald back into his pocket and left the laboratory room.

Surprisingly, the Chaos Emerald stopped glowing when he left the room.

* * *

**_Daisy Resort, On the Daisy Cruiser_**

Night had fallen at Daisy Resort. The Daisy Cruiser had left the dock and began sailing across the ocean. The ship was lit up everywhere. On the ship, guest of Daisy's birthday party were enjoying themselves.

The Daisy Cruiser had loads of entertainment for the guests. In the dining room, there was a huge food table, offering lots of delicious treats. Outside on the ship's deck, was where the guests could hang out. There was a stage on the deck where the band for Daisy's party was performing.

The heroes had separated at the moment, deciding to look around the ship at their interest. Yoshi had rushed into the dining room, hoping to eat as much treats as possible. He dragged Tails along with him, even though the fox had wanted to play around with his Gadd DS Horror. Amy and the princess' chose to hang around the deck area. Mario, Sonic and Luigi headed for the arcade room on the ship.

"Come on!" Yoshi called back to Tails. He was almost at the entrance of the dining room. Tails had a hard time keeping up with Yoshi's speed. Once he finally caught up, Yoshi was already inside the dining hall. Tails entered the room, and was surprised to see so many guests inside.

"Wow! There weren't so much guests like this outside in the deck area." Tails exclaimed. "The food must be amazing." He slowly walked into the crowd of people in the dining room, carefully looking around for Yoshi. The guests had filled almost all the dining tables. The fox was surprised that there was so much food for so many guests.

Tails headed for the dining table, assuming Yoshi was already there. The dining table had a long line of hungry birthday guests. There were plastic forks, spoons, knifes, plates and cups for the guests. A whole variety of food was offered at the dining table, including birthday cake, punch and even lasanga! The punch bowl had an ice sculpture of Daisy in it to keep the punch cold.

"Hey Tails!" someone shouted. He looked and saw Yoshi carrying _three _plates of sweets. Each plate was piled up high with cupcakes, cookies, brownies and doughnuts. Yoshi peeked his head to the side to see Tails. "What took you so long?"

"Uhm...I got lost in the crowd." Tails answered. He was amazed Yoshi could carry so much food. But he knew the dinosaur would do anything to fill his seemingly bottomless belly.

"Well, don't be shy! Take something!" Yoshi offered Tails. He moved closer to the fox so he could choose what treat he could eat. Tails carefully grabbed a mint chocolate chip cookie and took a bite out of it.

"Mmm! This is really good." Tails said. Yoshi nodded in agreement. The both found a table so they could eat their treats.

"Alright!" Yoshi said, carefully putting down the plates of treats onto the table. "I challenge you to an eating contest. Each of us get a plate of treats and race each other to see who can eat it all the fastest. Winner gets the other plate of treats as a prize. Are you up for it?"

Tails gave him a weird look. "Uhh...thanks, but I'm okay with just a cookie." He continued eating his mint cookie. Yoshi rolled his eyes, thinking that Tails wasn't up for the challenge. He was about to enjoy his plate of treats when suddenly he heard his name being called. He looked around the dining room and saw a pink Birdo waving at him. He was pleasantly surprised.

"Hey!" Yoshi shouted back. The Birdo came up to their table and took a seat beside Yoshi. To Tails' surprise, the two seemed to hug each other.

"Uhh...who is this?" Tails asked out of curiosity.

"I'm Catherine." the Birdo introduced herself. She was a typical Birdo. She looked like a dinosaur, with a rounded white belly, red tail spikes and purplr spots on her cheek. She wore a big red bow on her head and had a diamond ring on her left hand. The most prominent feature of Catherin was her funnel-shaped mouth. Unlike the low-pitched voices Birdos had, she had a higher-pitched feminine voice.

"Catherine here is my _friend._" Yoshi said to Tails. The fox noticed the smile Yoshi made when he said "friend". Yoshi turned to Catherine. "Catherine, this is my friend, Tails."

"It's nice to meet you." said Catherine. She whispered something to Yoshi, causing him to giggle.

"Uhm...okay." the fox seemed a little weirded out by Yoshi's behaviour with Catherine. He sensed there was more things going on between them. "So...how did you guys meet?"

Yoshi began to explain how he and Catherine met. Peach had held a tennis tournament at her stadium, the "Peach Dome". It was a doubles tournament, and Catherine desperately wanted to join, but she did not have a partner. Yoshi had bumped into her at the sign-up station, and after see her dilemma, offered to be her partner. During the tournament, they soon became friends. After they lost the tournament, they began to hang out more. The two became so close to each other that they've became partners in almost every sports tournament.

"Wow." Tails said in a surprised manner. "So, I'm assuming you two are both, let's say..._boyfriend and girlfriend?"_

Yoshi blushed for a moment. "...I guess you could say that."

Catherine giggled. "Oh, Yoshi. I just _love _the way you blush. You look so cute when you do that." She held Yoshi's hand. "Do you think you can come out to the deck with me? I want to give you something." She led Yoshi outside, leaving Tails alone at the dining table.

"Gee...I never thought Yoshi had the charm to get a girl." Tails said to himself. He soon finished eating his mint cookie. He took the opportunity to play around with his Gadd DS Horror. While he was playing, he caught something at the corner of his eye.

Near the food table, was a figure, covered in a brown cloak. The figure turned to him. Tails was shocked at what he saw.

_Oh no...it can't be..._

There, staring right at him, was the shadow figure. The two stared at each other for almost a full minute. Suddenly, the shadow figure laughed. A purple mist covered him and he soon disappeared. No one else in the dining room appeared to have seen the shadow figure.

_I have to tell Sonic! _Tails thought to himself. He wasted no time. He quickly got up from his chair and rushed out of the dining hall, joping to tell his friends before something bad might happen.

At that moment, a loud roar of thunder echoed out in the distance. Storm clouds began to fill the beautiful night sky...

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The shadow figure is on board! Are the heroes in danger? And is Bowser and Eggman's "doomsday" machine really dangerous for Mario and Sonic? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

**_Author Notes: This chapter took me really long to make! Hope you guys liked it. There was so much I wanted to add in this chapter, but I didn't wannt it to become too long. Anyway, here is some fun trivia. Catherine, Yoshi's "girlfriend" is based off the character Birdo in the Mario sports games. Her first appearance as Yoshi's partner was in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64. In the games, Birdo and Daisy have good chemistry together, e.x. Mario Super Sluggers. I thought it was appropriate for Birdo to appear at Daisy's birthday party. _**

**_Regarding to why the Junior's Purple Chaos Emerald was glowing, think about who are the star children. Do you think there is some meaning to why the Purple Chaos Emerald glowed in certain areas? Hmm? _**

**_Anyway, look forward to the next chapter. See you guys next time and thanks for the support! Check my profile for updates on my stories!_**

**_Question of the Week: What do you think about Sonic Generations? (I'm going to be adding these every week.)_**

**_-_********I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	26. Gone Overboard!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 26: Gone **__**Overboard!**_

* * *

**_Daisy Resort, On the Daisy Cruiser_**

The weather began to worsen at the Daisy Resort. Dark clouds began to fill the night sky. Thunder began to echo far in the distance. It seemed like a rough storm was about to hit the area.

Guests on the Daisy Cruiser already saw the signs and had started heading indoors. The princesses, along with Amy, joined the guests and headed into the dining room.

Peach had her eyes focused on the rolling storm clouds. "I hope the weather doesn't became _too _rough."

"Oh, don't worry." Daisy assured her. "Even if the storm does become terrible, the Daisy Cruiser will be able to handle the rough seas."

Amy had looked down at the ocean water. Sure enough, the tide was becoming stronger. The wind from the upcoming storm heavily rocked the seas. She hoped that Daisy was right about her cruiser. Suddenly...

_THUMP!_

Someone accidently ran into Amy, and the two fell backwards on the deck.. Amy quickly sat up, dizzy from the fall. She was completely enraged and was about to yell her head off at the other person when she realized who it was. "Tails?"

"Ugh..." Tails groaned. He rubbed the back of his head, a bit dazed from the fall. He quickly shook it off. "Amy! Did I bump into you?"

"Yeah! You did!" Amy answered in an annoyed tone. Peach helped her up, while Daisy did the same for Tails. She wonder why Tails was in a hurry. "Why were you running on the boat?"

"I _need _to find Sonic!" Tails quickly said. He knew that something bad was going to happen. Because of _it _being on the boat.

"Uhm...they're in the arcade room," Amy answered. "it's near the front of the deck." In a split-second, Tails was already heading to the arcade room, leaving Amy and the princesses confused.

"I wonder why he was in such a hurry." Peach said. Suddenly, a loud thundering boom echoed in the distance.. The storm was coming in quick.

"Come on you guys," said Daisy. She pointed to the dining hall. "We have to get inside before it starts to rain, quick!" The princesses and Amy rushed inside the dining hall. They were one of the last people who entered. The dining hall doorways were shut closed.

Amy peeked out through one of the windows. It began to rain outside. Luckily, it was light rain. "Well, we should okay inside." She began to look around the dining hall. She saw something that she couldn't believe. "It that, Yoshi?"

Near them, sitting on one of the dining tables, was Yoshi. He was sitting beside Catherine. The two were chatting, occasionally laughing.

Peach saw the surprised look on Amy's face and looked into her direction. "Oh, it is. And he seems to be with Catherine."

"Catherine?" Amy repeated. "Who's Catherine."

"She's Yoshi's friend." Daisy answered. She motioned Amy to come closer and whispered into her ear. "Although, you could say they, _like _each other_."_

Amy was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that Yoshi had a _girlfriend._ She and the princesses came up to the duo. They were pleased to see them.

"Oh, hey guys." Yoshi said. He motioned them to take a seat. "You must have came in because of the rain, right?"

"Yes, indeed." Peach answered. She turned to Catherine and smiled to her. "Hello Catherine. It's nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too, Princess Peach." Catherine said. She turned to Daisy, delighted to see her good friend. "Daisy! You're birthday party is amazing."

The two girls laughed. The two had became good friends ever since they met. When Daisy wasn't hanging around with Peach, she was usually with Catherine. People usually referred them as "Gallopin' Gal-Pals". "Thanks, Catherine." Daisy answered. "It's _my_ birthday after all!"

Catherine soon noticed Amy. "You must be Amy Rose." The pink hedgehog was surprised she already knew her. "Yoshi told me everything about you and your other friends. I really hope you'll be able to return to your dimension."

"Thank you." Amy smiled. Catherine seemed really nice. No wonder why Yoshi was with her.

"So," Yoshi started. " did you guys see Tails anywhere? Me and Catherine left him here for awhile to go outside. When we came back, he was already gone."

"We saw him outside," Daisy answered. "He went out to look for Sonic."

"He seemed to be in a hurry, too." Amy added. She remembered the worried face he had. It was as if he saw something that shocked him.

"Oh," Yoshi said, in a disappointed tone. "well I hope he'll be alright." He was a bit sad that his friend left without telling him. Catherine comforted him. The group decided to change the subject. They all seemed to really enjoy themselves afterwards.

Outside, the storm was beginning to become more dangerous. The wind became much stronger than before. The tides rose higher, creating humongous waves. The rain also grew heavier. The Daisy Cruiser began to rock back and forth slowly in the ocean. It was as if an evil force had covered the area. Something horrible was about to happen...

* * *

**_Daisy Cruiser, Arcade Room_**

The arcade room was located near the front deck area. It was the room right under the outside pool. The arcade room was a gamer's paradise. It had countless number of arcade machines, such as racing, shooting, fighting, sports, dancing and more. Whatever arcade game you could think of, it's there!

The arcade room itself was dark inside, only lit up with various neon lights. There was a reward counter with plushie toys and candy sold as prizes. There was also a machine where it sold arcade tokens. Techno music was playing in the background.

There were a few people in the arcade room, mostly kids and teenagers. At the back of the arcade room, was Mario, Sonic and Luigi. They were at the "Dance Dance Revolution" machine. It was Mario versus Luigi dancing to a song called "Blooper Bop" on Super Hard mode. Apparently, Mario was winning. Luigi was struggling to keep up with his brother. Sonic was watching them, somewhat impressed by their dancing skills.

"Come on, Luigi. Keep up!" encouraged Mario. He was hitting all arrows with perfect timing.

"I'm-a trying, bro!" Luigi answered back. He tried his best to hit the arrows on time, but usually went off-beat or completely missed the arrows. His star meter was awfully low, having only half a star left. Suddenly, the song ended. The Mario Bros. had failed the song due to, "missing too many steps".

"WHAT!" Luigi shouted at the machine. He had the urge to kick the machine. "That's-a not fair! I only missed like, 9 steps!"

"Uhm...you missed over _half _the arrows." Mario corrected him. Luigi gave him an annoyed look. The two stepped off the dance machine and headed towards Sonic. He had watched the whole performance.

"Wow, Mario. I didn't know you could dance so well." Sonic complimented him. He turned to Luigi, trying to think of something supportive to say. "I've...uh..never seen anyone dance like you before, Luigi."

Luigi rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it, I know I'm horrible at dancing." He began to look around the arcade room, wondering what other game they should play. "So, what do you guys want to do now?"

"I was thinking we should head back to the deck," Sonic said. "I want to see what the others are doing." They all agreed, and soon headed for the exit of the arcade room, when...

"SONIC!" someone had shouted. The trio wondered who called the hedgehog's name. Suddenly, they saw Tails running into the arcade, panting heavily.

"Tails!" Sonic said in a surprised tone. He ran up to him, with Mario and Luigi following. They saw the shocked look on their fox friend. "What happened? What's going on?"

"You won't...believe it." Tails took a moment to catch his breath. "Inside the ship's dining hall, I saw..." he hesitated for a moment. "I saw the _shadow figure!"_

The three couldn't believe what they were told. Everyone else in the arcade room overheard their conversation, but none of them really seemed interested.

"Y-y-you mean th-th-th-that guy that looks supr-pr-prisingly like Sonic?" Luigi asked while stuttering. He had pointed to Sonic while asking the question. Tails slowly nodded. Luigi felt like screaming. He didn't like the shadow figure.

_"Great...what are we going to do now..." _Sonic thought to himself. He had bitter feelings against the shadow figure ever since they met it. The terrible things it had done to his friends. He knew it would do anything to harm them, but the shadow figure was also dangerous. It reminded him of someone in _his _universe.

"Tails," Mario began to speak. "did you tell the others about the shadow figure?"

"Oh no! I forgot!" Tails yelled out. "I was in a rush to tell you guys, that I _completely _forgot about them!" He paused for a moment. He just realized something. "I remember they were heading to the dining hall, where the shadow figure is!"

"We've got to hurry." Sonic said to them. The four rushed out of the arcade room and headed to the Daisy Cruiser's dining room. When they got outside on the deck, it was beginning to drizzle heavily. Dark storm clouds filled the night sky and the ship was swaying back and forth from the the heavy tides. The rain was pouring onto the Daisy Cruiser, causing the deck to be quite slippery.

"Mamamia!" Luigi screamed. "The weather is terrible!" The heroes did their best to cover themselves from the rain. The hurried along the deck, making sure not to slip from the wet floor.

"The dining hall is just around the corner!" Tails shouted to them. The storm was getting worse. Loud thunder soon filled the area. The wind started to get stronger. It was great havoc.

The heroes soon made it to the dining hall doors. Sonic quickly pushed open the doors. Inside, all the guests of Daisy's birthday party were there, enjoying the party like nothing bad was happening.

"Hmm...nothing seems wrong here." Luigi commented. He looked around, not seeing any shadow figure in sight. "Tails, are you sure you saw the shadow figure?"

Tails nodded. He was one-hundred percent sure he did. "He's probably hiding. I saw him wearing this brown cloak." He glimpsed around the room and saw the other heroes sitting at the same table. The four headed towards them.

Yoshi noticed them. He began to wave. "Hey guys! Where were you? You're missing out on the party."

The four were surprised that everything seemed fine in the dining room, even though they knew the shadow figure could be among them. "We were down at the arcade room." Sonic answered.

"That's good." Peach said. "I was hoping you weren't stuck outside. The rain out there is just awful."

"Yeah, we kind of figured that out ourselves." said Mario, with an uneasy smile. He walked around the table, looking around the dining room. "Hey guys, did you happen to see a person covered in a brown cloak?" None of them had seen what Mario had asked them. None of them except...

"I did." Catherine answered. She explained how she saw the shadow figure. "He was near the dining table, covering his face. When I passed him, he suddenly called me to come to him. He offered me this really beautiful jewel and I just _had _to buy for Yoshi."

Yoshi nodded. "Yeah. She gave it to me outside the deck. It looks really amazing, and even more amazing when it's glowing in my hand."

Tails thought it was weird how a normal jewel would glow, but they had bigger problems to deal with. "So...you're saying you talked to the cloaked figure?" Tails asked Catherine. She nodded back to him.

"Do you know who you just talked to?" Luigi suddenly blurted out. "That was the shadow figure!"

Everyone at the table was surprised. "Wait a minute," Amy said, getting out of her seat. "Are you telling me the shadow figure is on the ship?" Tails nodded back to her. Suddenly, the boat began to sway dangerously to the left. This surprised everyone in the dining room. People struggled to keep balance. The boat suddenly swayed to the right, causing everyone to lose balance. The tables and chairs even slid in the same direction.

"Whoa! What's happening?" Daisy shouted. She stayed in her seat, hanging onto the table for balance.

The Daisy Cruiser swayed wildly in the ocean. It was if as something was rocking it back and forth. Panic soon began to spread in the dining hall. People were screaming and falling down onto the floor from the ship's swaying.

"This is crazy!" Luigi yelled out. He lost his balance and fell down, bumping into both Sonic and Tails. They helped each other back up, dusting themselves off. Suddenly, they heard a loud roar outside. The room went quiet.

"What was that?" Yoshi asked. The group didn't have a clue what it was. Suddenly, they heard another roar, this time, much louder. The atmosphere around the room was tense. Everyone waited for something to happen. They only heard the raining outside. They waited for a few minutes, but nothing happened.

"Phew!" gasped Sonic. "For a second there, I thought something bad was about to happen."

All of a sudden, a gigantic tentacle crashed through one of the dining hall windows near the heroes. It wiggled around viciously. The guests in the room started to panic again. The tentacle soon slid back outside.

"Whoa! What was that?" Amy shouted.

Suddenly, another tentacle crashed through one of the windows near the dining table. It happened to flip over the table, causing all the food to spill onto the floor.

"Hey!" Daisy shouted. She stood up from her seat and turned to the dining table, which was on its side "That food took a long time to cook!" She became terribly angry! Her birthday party was turning into a nightmare for everyone. Luigi tried to calm her down.

"Someone has to go out there and see what is going on." Peach said to them.

"I'll go." said Mario. He was about to leave when a hand grabbed his shoulder. It was Sonic.

"It's dangerous out there, Mario." he told the plumber. "So I'll go with you." Mario nodded to Sonic, and soon they headed outside on the deck. At the same time, the others tried to calm the guests down.

Out on the deck, it was still raining hard on the Daisy Cruiser. The wind was much stronger than before. The ocean roared loudly from the waves. Mario and Sonic struggled to keep their balance on the rocking ship. The headed near the front of the ship. The two checked around to see where the tentacles came from.

"We should check on the sides!" Sonic shouted to Mario. They both looked down at the ship's sides and into the water. They couldn't find anything.

While Mario was searching, a gust of wind suddenly lifted his hat off his head. "Hey!" he shouted. Mario chased his hat around the deck. His has floated high into the air from the strong wind. The wind suddenly died down, causing his hat to float back down. It landed right on the edge of the bow. The plumber was relieved and put his hat back on.

He looked out in front of him and was surprised to see another giant tentacle waving at him. The tentacle raised up and quickly tried to slap him down, but luckily Mario jumped out of the way in time. The tentacle hit the deck, creating a loud thud noise. The tentacle moved off the deck. Mario ran up to the bow and looked down to see where it would go. To his shock, three more tentacles had joined the lone tentacle. They raised out of the water and began to crowd around the bow of the ship.

Sonic soon noticed the tentacles. The tentacles viciously waved around in the air. Preparing to attack the two. Mario and Sonic soon went up to each other, facing back-to-back. They prepared to defend themselves from the tentacle attack.

"I see you've met my _friend..." _a loud, deep voiced boomed into the air. Mario and Sonic looked around. A figure covered in a brown cloak suddenly appeared behind the bow of the ship. It floated in the air and onto the deck. "We met again, heroes..." The figure pulled down it's hood, revealing itself to the duo. It was none other than the _shadow figure!_

"It's you!" Sonic said aloud. He felt sudden anger towards the shadow figure. He wasn't going to let it get away from them this time.

The shadow figure said nothing. It just stared at the heroes with it's glowing, yellow eyes. It's brown cloaked waved through the air from the roaring wind. It turned to Mario. "You are one of_ them_."

"What is he talking about?" Sonic whispered to Mario. He could only shrug in confusion.

The shadow figure looked to Sonic. It's eyes suddenly brightened up. He pointed to the hedgehog. "I don't need your presence! Tonight, you will _die!_"

Suddenly, the shadow figure raised both it's hands up. The storm suddenly grew ferocious. It began to rain harder, the waves became stronger. Suddenly, behind the shadow figure, a titanic figure appeared behind him. It looked like a huge octopus head. It was white, with blue spots near the forehead. It's eyes were far apart from each other. It had a small tube-like mouth. The octopus creature roar loudly, causing Mario and Sonic to cover their ears.

"What is that thing?" Sonic shouted.

Mario looked up to the octopus creature and soon recognized it from his previous adventures. "That _thing_ is is Gooper Blooper!"

Gooper Blooper stopped roaring. Sonic looked back to the tentacles. It seemed to come from Gooper Blooper. The tentacles began to hold onto the Daisy Cruiser. It began to tilt it back and forth. Mario and Sonic tried to keep balance.

The shadow figure laughed at them. "Look at you! None of you are no match to this titatnic tyrant!" The shadow figure turned to Gooper Blooper. "I want you to finish them!"

Gooper Blooper did as it was told. It seemed like it was possessed by the shadow figure's dark magic. Gooper Blooper began to tilt the ship dangerously. Mario and Sonic could barely keep themselves from falling down on the deck floor. Mario fell backwards, causing him to bump into Sonic. The two began to slide across the deck area. They both hit the guardrail on the ship. Gooper Blooper tilted the ship viciously, determined to get the two to fall off. Suddenly, Mario flipped over the guardrail. He hung onto the railing with one hand. Unfortunately due to the rain, it was slippery. The plumber held tightly, but soon lost his grip. He was about to fall into the ocean when Sonic grabbed him.

"Gotcha!" Sonic said. He pulled as hard as he could to get Mario back on board. Suddenly, he was punched by the shadow figure. The hedgehog flipped over the guard rail. He quickly grabbed onto the railing, still holding Mario. Sonic looked up, seeing the shadow figure standing on the railing. The figure laughed at him.

"HAHAHA! Look at you." the shadow figure began. "You look_ pathetic_! Hanging onto a railing for your dear life. It would amuse me if you began to beg for your life. To beg for my help! Well..." the shadow figure lifted his right foot up, over Sonic's hand. "...that would _never _happen!" The shadow figure gave an evil smirk. Sonic stared back at him, angrily.

_"Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog!"_

The shadow figure stomped his foot and crushed Sonic's hand. He shouted in pain and let it, causing him and Mario to fall. They both screamed. During the fall, Mario's hat was caught by the wind again. It floated through the air and landed back onto the deck. The shadow figure ignored it. He only watched as both heroes fell into the ocean. They landed into the water with a large splash. He waited for them to surface. They didn't.

"Hmph!" the shadow figure was pleased. He knew that Sonic the Hedgehog was a terrible swimmer and throwing him into the ocean would surely finish him off. His triumphant victory suddenly turned into a shocking realization. He threw Sonic into the ocean, but he also threw Mario.

"NO! I _need _him!"

The shadow figure turned back to Gooper Blooper. The blooper was still playing around with the ship, gently tilting it. He floated to Gooper Blooper. "I need you to find the body of the plumber. I need him for my _plan._"

Gooper Blooper listened. It's tentacles let go of the ship. The titanic blooper slowly floated back down into the ocean, knowing that it needs to find Mario. The shadow figure looked out into the ocean. It was going to be a long search, but it knew, with the help of the Chaos Emeralds, he could find all of the star children.

"I _will _succeed!"

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_This is terrible! Mario and Sonic have gone overboard! What could become of them? How will the other heroes react? Will the shadow figure succeed in it's plan for ultimate power? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

**_Author Notes: Alright! Chapter complete! Things have started to heat up in this adventure again! Here is a little trivia. Gooper Blooper is a character that came from the game, "Super Mario Sunshine". It's one of my favourite Gamecube games. Although, I could never find all the Shine Sprites. I gave up on trying. Oh well. _**

**_Hopefully you guys remember from previous chapters what the shadow figure's plan is. If you want to refresh your memory, go back and read _****_Chapter 24: The Secret Alliance. It should explain what the shadow figure's motives are. I don't want to explain it here, as it would take up too much space._**

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. See you guys next time and thank you for all the support you've given me. Check my profile for updates on my fanfictions. Can you believe it has already been more than a year since I've begun this story? Amazing, right?_**

**_(Question of the Week) - You've all heard Super Mario 3D is coming out for the Nintendo 3DS, right? The Tanooki suit is coming back as a power-up. What other power-ups from previous Mario games do you hope will come back?_**

**__****_-_********I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	27. Troubling Koopa Pirate Gang!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 27: Troubling Koopa Pirate Gang!_**

* * *

...

_"Mwahahaha..."_

"Oh no! This dream again..."

"_You will...be annihilated..."_

"Who are you? I won't ask again!"

_"I will...destroy you...using these..."_

"What...no way...are those-"

...

* * *

**_Unknown Beach Area_**

The hedgehog quickly sat up from his sleep, shocked. He had another dream. It was the same dream he had last time. A mysterious voice that sounded familiar to him spoke in his head. It had a tone of hatred towards Sonic. Near the end of his dream, seven objects appeared in his mind. Those seven objects were the seven Chaos Emeralds.

"I can't believe it..." Sonic said to himself. He took a moment to think. "Did I just see the Chaos Emeralds?" He tried so hard to find out what his dreams meant. He could only figure out that someone wanted to destroy him using the Chaos Emeralds. But who? And how were _they _able to get hold of all the Chaos Emeralds?

"This is all so confusing!" Sonic shouted out loud. He expected someone to answer him, but there was silence. Sonic was even more confused. He looked around him. It was just sunrise when Sonic had woken up. He was sitting on a soft, sandy beach area. The hedgehog was facing the ocean. Small waves crashed on the beach. Behind him, was a jungle of palm trees. There was so many palm trees it would take you forever to count them all.

"What? Wait...how did I get here?" Sonic thought to himself. He tried to remember what happened the previous night. He remembered that he and his friends were celebrating Daisy's birthday party on her cruise ship. Then he remembered he had to fight this large octopus-like creature on the deck. He was soon knocked off the ship by the shadow figure.

"Well...that turned out to be a rough night." Sonic said. He slowly stood up and brushed the sand off him. The hedgehog soon remembered something. "Oh no! Mario!" Not only was Sonic knocked off the ship, but Mario also fell off as well. Sonic began to shout Mario's name, hoping to get an answer. Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound. He turned towards the palm tree jungle. There was a lone shrub near one of the palm trees. It seemed to be moving. Sonic slowly crept towards the shrub. He quickly peeked inside it to see what was moving.

"AAAH!" Mario shouted. His shout caught Sonic off-guard, causing him to tumble back and fall down. The plumber soon realized who it was. "Sonic!" He jumped out of the shrub and helped Sonic back up. "Mamamia! I'm-a so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well you kind of did." Sonic groaned. He began to rub his back. "So, do you mind telling me why you were crawling inside a shrub?"

"It's-a terrible!" Mario began. "I woke up earlier, . I tried to figure out where we were, when I noticed that my _hat _is gone!" He pointed to his head. Sure enough, he wasn't wearing it.

Sonic remembered more from what happened last night. When they fell of the boat, he saw Mario's hat fly off his head and float back onto the ship. "I wouldn't worry about your hat Mario. I saw it fly back onto the Daisy Cruiser while we were knocked off."

"You did?" Mario was relieved. "I guess I hadn't noticed it fly off my head." He have out a smal chuckle. "Well, I'm-a hope the others had found it."

Sonic nodded. He soon gave a worried look. "Speaking of the others, I hope they aren't worrying about us." Mario agreed with him. Who knew what their friends could be thinking right now. They would assume they both fell overboard. But could they be thinking more than just that?

"We should figure out where we are, first." Mario said to Sonic.

Sonic agreed. He walked back out onto the beach area and began to inspect. It seemed that the beach area stretched as far as Sonic could see. To his left, the beach began to curve inwards, almost like how a bay would look like. "But how are we going to do that? There doesn't seem to be anyone else here."

Mario walked up to Sonic, also looking around to see where they were. He turned back to the jungle area and looked up. He tapped Sonic's shoulder. The hedgehog turned back to see what Mario was looking. What he saw was amazing.

Behind the very large jungle of palm trees, out in the far distance, was a large rock. The rock seemed to be shaped like a volcano, but no smoke was coming out of it. Mario pointed to the rock. "We should start searching that way."

The two began to head back into the palm tree jungle, hoping that they would find someone else on the island...

* * *

**_Big Blooper Ocean, Kong'_****_s Steamboat_**

The ocean was calm and peaceful. The waves were gentle, unlike how they were in last night's disastrous storm. Somewhere on that ocean, was a steamboat of Donkey Kong's. It held the rest of the heroes who were on the Daisy Cruiser the night before, excluding the princess's. The Kong's were also aboard, since it was their steamboat.

The steamboat was somewhat small. It was completely made out of jungle wood. Around it was a green railing and on top of the deck was a single cabin that led to the other cabins inside the steamboat. On top of the cabin was a chimney where smoke emitted from it. To steer the steamboat were two large, yellow paddles at the side.

Tails, Luigi, Yoshi and Amy were outside on the deck of the steamboat. They were all devestated from the events of last night's events. After the storm had died down, they went out on the deck to find Mario and Sonic, but they had only found Mario's cap lying on the deck floor. They soon realized that both heroes somehow fell overboard. Search parties were established around the area where the Daisy Cruiser had sailed, but to no luck they couldn't find Mario or Sonic.

The heroes were determined to find their friends, so after they left the Daisy Resort, they quickly headed to Gadd's laboratory, hoping he had some sort of invention to find Mario and Sonic. They knew they would have to give up their quest to find the Power Stars to help Sonic and his friends return to their dimension.

To their luck, Gadd told them he had installed the a D.N.A. Tracker app onto Tails's Gadd DS Horror. They used Mario's cap to scan the D.N.A. from it, and they soon got a signal to Mario and Sonic's possible wherabouts.

Unfortunately, the coordinates showed that they were somewhere in the ocean. Donkey Kong had heard about the incident, and offered to help them find Mario and Sonic by giving them a ride on his hand-made steamboat. They soon set sail early next morning off the coast of Daisy Resort.

Luigi kept hold of Mario's cap. He was sitting against the cabin door of the steamboat, staring at his brother's cap. He felt the letter 'M' on the hat with his thumbs and sighed. "Gee...I'm-a hope that Mario is okay."

Yoshi was sitting right beside him, with a sad look on his face. He could only nod to Luigi's statement. He missed Sonic and especially missed Mario. He and Mario were close and loyal friends, sharing countless adventures ever since their first one in Dinosaur Land. He hoped that he would see him again.

Tails was standing near the bow of the steamboat, holding his DS Horror with both hands. He was on the D.N.A. Tracker app, looking over the coordinates. They were still far away from them. He was determined to find Sonic. The two were like brothers, and there was nothing that could separate them.

"_Don't worry," _Tails thought to himself. _"We'll find you..."_

Luigi gave out a sigh. He looked to his right, seeing Amy standing against the railing, looking out into the ocean. The plumber slowly sat up and walked to the her left side and began looking out into the ocean. He soon spoke.

"Amy...I know how devastated you must feel about Sonic. But don't worry. We'll find them and they'll be alright." He turned to her, seeing the blank expression on her face. She soon spoke.

"I'm not worried at all." this caught Luigi by surprise. The plumber raised an eyebrow. He knew Amy cared deeply for Sonic and thought that she would've been the most devastated out of them all in the situation. "I know that somewhere, Sonic is alive and well. Even though he and Mario had been swept out of sea, I just know he's alright."

"...what makes you think of that?" Luigi asked, soon interested.

There was a moment of silence. Amy began to speak. "Sonic has been through a lot of adventures in his life. From all the countless dangers he's faced, he has been able to shake them off and keep on going. He's someone that doesn't let anything stop him. He's a guy that is able to keep on running, no matter what." She looked up into the sky, knowing that Sonic and Mario were alive. "He wouldn't let a thunder storm or the ocean stop him. I just know it."

Luigi was impressed by Amy's speech. She knew that her hero could make it through anything. He thought for a moment and soon gave a small smirk. Her speech had also reminded him of Mario. He was also someone who wouldn't let anything stop them.

Suddenly, the cabin door on the deck swooped open, causing Yoshi to fall face-flat on the deck. Out came Donkey Kong, holding a huge pile of bananas in his hands. Diddy Kong soon came out and hopped onto Donkey Kong's back. He held a small telescope in his hands.

"Hey guys!" Donkey Kong exclaimed. He dropped the pile of bananas onto the deck floor. "I was wondering if you were hungry for breakfast!"

"I sure am!" Diddy Kong said. He clapped happily, ready to eat the bananas. The young monkey is one of Donkey Kong's best friends and apparently his nephew. The two love going on adventures through Congo Jungle. Diddy Kong is usually a happy-go-lucky monkey. He always carries his homemade barrel-jet in his backpack in case of emergencies.

Yoshi was surprised from all the bananas the Kong's carried, although he thought he should expect this, as they were monkeys. "You plan on to eat _all _that for breakfast?"

Donkey Kong shook his head. "Of course not! I'm sharing this with all of you guys." He noticed Diddy Kong about to take a banana. He soon stopped him. "Hold on, Diddy. You should get to your lookout post first. I'll hand your bananas later on."

The young monkey rolled his eyes. "Fine..." Diddy Kong soon jumped on top of the cabin and began inspecting the ocean using his telescope.

The rest of the heroes walked up to the pile of bananas. They weren't sure if they wanted to eat bananas for breakfast. The only one's who began eating were Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Yoshi.

"Uhmm...I'm kinda _not _hungry right now." Tails said. He looked back out into the ocean. "Hey Donkey Kong, do you think you could speed up the ship a little?"

The ape slowly nodded. He swallowed the bananas left in his mouth. "Sorry, but this is the fastest the steamboat can go. It's no speedboat."

Tails sighed. He really wanted to find Sonic, fast. The rest of the heroes began to eat the bananas, but not Tails. He couldn't eat knowing that his friend was still out there.

Suddenly, Diddy Kong shouted. "Hey! I see something!" He began to hop around in excitement. The others looked up to the excited monkey, hoping that he had found a sign of Mario or Sonic. "Wait a minute, I've got to focus my telescope a little bit more." Diddy Kong quickly focused his telescope, zooming onto the unknow object he saw out on the ocean. It seemed to be another ship sailing across the ocean, only it was much bigger. The thing that caught Diddy Kong's attention of the ship was the black flag it was flying. Diddy Kong focused his telescope more to see the logo on the flag. "Oh no..."

"What is it, Diddy?" Donkey Kong asked him. Diddy Kong was speechless. What he saw terrified him. Donkey Kong grabbed the telescope out of his friend's hand and checked out the object himself. He found out why the young monkey was petrified. "...no way, it couldn't be."

The logo on the other ship's flag was a skull of a Koopa Troopa's head over a set of crossbones. This could only mean one thing to the people of Mushroom Kingdom. It was the sign of the Koopa Pirates.

"EEEYAH! IT'S THE KOOPA PIRATES!" Diddy Kong soon yelled. He jumped off of the cabin and hid behind Donkey Kong.

Tails and Amy were confused. "Who are the Koopa Pirates?" they both asked.

Donkey Kong began to explain. "The Koopa Pirates are one of the most feared pirate groups on the ocean. They have been known to sink almost a thousand ships in a fortnight." The ape walked up to the bow of the steamboat, staring the faraway pirate ship. He didn't plan on having an encounter with them. "Diddy Kong! Speed up the paddles! Now!" Donkey Kong wanted to pass the pirate ship before it noticed them.

"Aye aye!" exclaimed Diddy Kong. He quickly rushed into the cabin and headed into the engine room. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel, causing the steamboat to sail much faster, almost like a speedboat.

"Hey...before you said you couldn't speed up the steamboat." Tails complained.

Donkey Kong shrugged. "Ehh...I was too lazy at first." The ape looked back to the pirate ship. They were just about to pass it. The pirate ship didn't seem to notice them, until it began to turn towards them.

Yoshi noticed it first. "Wah! They're turning towards us!"

The heroes started to wonder how the Koopa Pirates noticed them. They were clueless at first until Tails pointed out something. "Hey! Look behind the steamboat!" The fox pointed to a trail of grey smoke behind the steamboat. Because it was going pretty fast, the smoke from the chimney made a trail behind them, causing the Koopa Pirates to notice them.

Luigi chuckled nervously. "Well...what could go? We're over here and they are _waaay _over there!"

Suddenly, a loud boom was heard, followed by the sound of something falling. A cannonball fell out of the sky, landing to the side of DK's steamboat. It made a humongous splash in the water. The heroes were completely surprised from the attack.

"Oh no! They're shooting cannonballs at us!" Amy shrieked out. Everyone began to freak out. Yoshi was running around in circles, Luigi was rocking back and forth against the cabin door, and Diddy Kong was going completely bananas inside. Tails tried to calm everyone down.

"You guys! Settle down!" the young fox yelled out. Everyone looked quickly looked at him, surprised by his outburst. "We need to focus. We have to try and find a way to evade those Koopa Pirates."

Suddenly, another cannonball was fired at them. It was overshot, narrowly missing the steamboat. The steamboat rocked back and forth from the waved the cannonball made. The heroes quickly held onto the guardrails.

Luigi was still rocking back and forth on the deck. He soon noticed an object out in the ocean. He quickly pointed at it. "LOOK! AN ISLAND!"

The heroes looked to where Luigi pointed. There, out in the horizon, was a large island. This came as a surprise to Tails. In all the havoc, his D.N.A. Tracker on his Gadd DS Horror began to beep. He looked at the coordinates, finding out that they were getting closer to where Sonic and Mario could be. It was a surprise, because the D.N.A. Tracker showed that there was supposed to be no island there.

"Quick! Donkey Kong! Steer the steamboat onto that island!" Tails shouted to Donkey Kong. "I have an idea." Donkey Kong nodded to the fox. He motioned Diddy Kong to steer the steamboat towards the island. At the same moment, the Koopa Pirate Ship began to chase after them, still shooting cannonballs at them.

Tails looked back onto his D.N.A. Tracker. They were definetely closing in on where Sonic and Mario were. They had to be on that island. But where?

The steamboat sped closer and closer to the island. The Koopa Pirate Ship followed them closely, continuing to shoot cannonballs at them...

* * *

**_Unknown Jungle Area_**

Mario and Sonic had ventured through across the whole island, finding no inhabitants. They swept through bushes, crawled through small caverns, even went back to where they woke up to see if anyone had been there. But it was if they were the only ones on the island.

The two were exhausted. It felt like they were walking for hours, hoping to find someone. They only had one option left. The huge volcano they had spotted on the other side of the island. If no one was there, then they were hopelessly alone.

"Boy...I'm-a tired..." Mario said. The plumber walked at snail pace. He wished he still had his hat to keep the sun from going into his eyes. Sonic was way ahead of him determined to find someone.

"Come on, Mario." Sonic called back to him. "We're almost to that volcano." He looked up past the trees, seeing the summit of the volcano. They were close to it. They were almost there.

Sonic waited for Mario to catch up to him. The plumber finally caught up to him. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "Gee...I Really wish I had a Shroom Shake right now, I'm-a parched!"

"No time to complain Mario," Sonic said. He pointed to the bushes right in front of them. "Just past these shrubs is the volcano. This is the last place we haven't looked. IF nobody else is there, then we're pretty much on our own on this island."

Mario nodded to him. They both were just about to move the shrubs when they heard shouting. The two gave each other surprised looks. They were hearing other voices! It was a miracle to them.

"Mamamia! There are actually other people on the island!" Mario exclaimed to Sonic. The plumber was hoping they weren't going crazy and was just hearing the voices. Sonic was excited as well. Finally, they were going to get help.

The two decided to peek through the shrubs before they showed themselves to the inhabitants of the island. What they saw surprised them.

In front of them, was the volcano. There was a small, open area between them and the volcano. On the side of the volcano was a small cave entrance. Entering the cave were a group of Koopa Troopas. There was something different about them. They all wore pirate hats and eyepatches. The Koopa Troopas all wore grey shells. The Koopa Troopas were carrying a large treasure chest. It was glowing yellow, which meant there was something inside it, possibly treasure. Commanding the Koopa Troopas was a Lakitu, also wearing the same pirate garment, except that he held a cutlass sword in his hand.

Mario and Sonic looked at each other, confused.

"Are those supposed to be...pirates?" Sonic whispered to him. Mario shrugged. He had never seen Koopa Troopas like this before.

The two began to eavesdrop. They listened to what the captain Lakitu began to say.

"Arrgh! Hurry up, ya scallywags!" commande the Lakitu. He waved his cutlass at the Koopa Troopas. "Get that treasure into the docking point before I decide to make you all walk the plank later on!"

Mario and Sonic assumed the treasure was inside the chest. They continued to eavesdrop.

"With this mighty treasure we found on this lone island, we will become the almighty pirate gang of the ocean!" The Koopa Troopas cheered with the captain Lakitu. One of the Koopa Troopas lost grip of the treasure chest, accidently spilling the contents of the chest out. Mario and Sonic couldn't believe what the pirate Koopa gang had found for their treasure.

It was a Power Star!

"ARRGH! YOU CLUMSY DOGS!" yelled out the captain Lakitu. "Hurry up and put the treasure back into the chest! The ship will be here any minutes! GRRRR!" The Koopa Troopas hurried to put the Power Star back into the chest. After, they walked into the cavern of the volcano.

"I can't believe it," Mario began. He scratched his head in disbelief. "The Power Star happened to crash here overnight! We found the next Power Star that will power up Gadd Dimension Teleportificationtron without even knowing where it would go!"

"That is some amazing luck." Sonic commented. "Now, we need to get that Power Star from them. If you remember what that guy on the cloud said, they're going to use it's power to become a powerful pirate gang.

Mario nodded to him. Sonic nodded back. The two jumped out of the shrubs and headed into the volcano cavern. They were going to get their next Power Star. No matter what...

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_Mario and Sonic have found the next Power Star! But will they be able to steal it from the mysterious Koopa Troopa Pirate Gang? And will the others escape from the terrifying ship that is viciously shooting cannonballs at them? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

**_Author Notes: This chapter took awhile to complete, but I managed to accomplish it! Anyway, I bet you weren't expecting Donkey Kong AND Diddy Kong to come back into the story. They are really important characters into the story, so you'll be seeing them more often. _**

**_Here is some trivia facts. The design of DK's steamboat is based of the boat that appeared in the Castaway Bay board in "Mario Party 6". Go check for yourself. Also, the Pirate Captain Lakitu is based off of the same Lakitu in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix. He appears in the song, "Pirate Dance". Again, go see a video for yourself. _**

**_I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Remember every Saturday evening is a new chapter! See you guys next time and thanks for the support. Check my profile for updates on my stories. Remember to answer the question of the week below in your review, if you do review the story._**

**_(Question of the Week) - What characters would you have hoped to be playable in Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games?_**

**__****__****_-_********I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	28. Deep Dive!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 28: Deep Dive!_**

* * *

**_Big Blooper Ocean, Around Unknown Island_**

"Come on Diddy Kong," shouted Donkey Kong. "Make this boat go faster!" Diddy Kong was messing about in the control room, doing the best he could to speed up their steamboat. Along with the Kong's were Tails, Luigi, Yoshi and Amy. They were out sailing in the ocean to find Mario and Sonic, who had gone overboard last night at Daisy's Cruiser.

Tails continued to look at his D.N.A Tracker on his Gadd DS Horror. The coordinates on the screen showed that they were getting closer to Mario and Sonic's possible whereabouts, which was an island they were sailing to. It would've been a peaceful ride, if they weren't being chased by a ship of the dangerous Koopa Pirate Gang, who were firing cannonballs at them.

"We have to find a way to get those pirates off our tail!" Luigi yelled to Donkey Kong. He was afraid they would possibly be captured by the pirates if they couldn't escape from them.

The Kong's steamboat began to circle around the lone island out in the ocean. The heroes hoped they would find a place to hide from the Koopa Pirates. Suddenly, Amy pointed out something. "Look! Over there! We can hide inside that cave!" She was pointing at this huge volcano-like rock near one of the shores of the island. Near the base of the volcano rock was a cave entrance that was big enough for a ship to sail into.

"Alright! I'll tell Diddy Kong to steer us into there!" Donkey said to the others. He rushed inside the cabin of the steamboat to tell Diddy Kong where to go. Soon, they steamboat began to sail into the direction of the volcano's cave. The Koopa Pirate Ship was far from them, but it knew where they were going. It slowly followed them, ready to attack...

* * *

**_Unknown Cave Area_**

It was pitch-black inside the cavern. You could barely see where you were going. The quiet drip of water could be heard every few seconds. The temperature was slightly cold. Mario and Sonic carefully walked through the cave, occasionally bumping into walls, even each other.

"Man! I hate aimlessly walking through the dark..." Sonic complained. He kept his hands in front of him to make sure he wouldn't bump into anything. "I wish we still had that Glow Block I found back at the Mushroom Plains."

Mario nodded. "Hey, was that after I saved you from drowning in the lake at Toad Town?"

"Yeah..." Sonic said, feeling a bit embarrassed. He couldn't believe Mario still remembered the incident. Although, it _was_ the first time the two had met. No wonder he remembered it. Ever since they had met, they had become very good friends. Two famous heroes, who were from entirely different dimensions, becoming friends. Sonic couldn't believe something like that would happen.

"Hey, look over there in front of us!" Mario said. Sonic looked to where he mentioned. In front of them was a bright light, which meant they were at the end of the cave. The two rushed to the cave entrance. Once they were outside, they looked around. They were inside what appeared to be this large, wide open cavern area. The two stood on a tall, rock platform. At the top of the cavern was a huge, circular opening. From the opposite of them, was another opening that led outside into the ocean. At the bottom of the cave, was a pool of deep water. The water led out into the ocean from the opposite cave opening. If you looked down closely enough, you could see a trench opening in the water.

Below the two, was a small land of sand, almost like a little beach area. There, they spotted the mysterious pirate gang they saw earlier outside the volcano.

"Wow! So this is what was inside the volcano." Sonic said, surprised. "You know, I was expecting lava, but this little water area is pretty nice as well." Mario quickly tapped Sonic's shoulder. He told him to be quiet for a minute, as he wanted to listen to the pirate's conversation.

"Arrgghh!" growled out the Captain Lakitu. He began to swipe his cutlass sword viciously in the air. "What'd be taking the others so long? They're supposed to be here already!"

One of the Koopa Troopa Pirates spoke. "Uhmm...maybe they'd be running out of fuel...?"

"Grrr, I don't care if they ran out of fuel!" snapped the Captain Lakitu. "I just want them to be here! We need to hurry and store our treasure somewhere safe. Somewhere where no one can find it. Then after, we can use the power of our treasure to became the nastiesy pirate crew in the whole Mushroom Kingdom!

Sonic rolled his eyes. These pirates didn't seem very intimidating to him. They kind of reminded him of a_ robotic pirate_ he also faced, except he actually seemed like a threat and was bit more clownish.

"So, how should we take the Power Star from them?" Sonic asked Mario. The two thought of a few ideas on how to try and steal the Power Star that was in the Pirate Koopa's chest. While they were thinking, a loud boom was heard outside the volcano cavern. It sounded like cannonballs were being shot. Another shot was heard, this time louder.

The Captain Lakitu laughed in amusement. "Ah! That must be our ship! I can recognize the sounds of our own cannons." He turned to the Pirate Koopas. "Alright, me scallywags! Get ready! Soon, we'll be sailing out of this miserable cave with our well-deserved treasure."

Mario and Sonic panicked. They were running out of time. The two looked at each other, then nodded. Suddenly, they jumped off of the rock platform, revealing themselves to the Pirate Koopa Gang.

"Uhm...hey, scallywags! " Sonic shouted to them. The whole pirate gang turned to them, shocked to find out someone else was on the island. "We're here to take what's inside that chest!"

"YARRGGH! How dare he call _us _scallywags!" the Captian Lakitu said angrily. He pointed his cutlass towards them. "My pirate crew! Attack! Hold them off until our ship arrives!" Quickly, the pirate Koopas each took out their own swords, preparing to attack Mario and Sonic. The two heroes got into their battle positions, when...

"What in the Koopa Jones' Locker?" yelled out the Captain Lakitu. He was staring back to the cavern's ocean opening. He was expecting his crew's ship to sail in when all of a sudden a wooden steamboat sped inside. It circled around in the pool of water before crashing onto the beach area. The people on the steamboat slowly got up from where they fell on the deck. Mario and Sonic seemed to recognize them.

"Hey! It's the others!" Sonic said to Mario. He yelled to them. "Guys! Over here!"

Tails looked up and saw the two waving at them. He couldn't believe it. "Mario! Sonic! You're alright!" He turned to the others. "Look! We've found them! We've found them!" The others looked and to their excitement, saw Mario and Sonic. They waved back to them, calling out their names.

The Captain Lakitu was frustrated. He couldn't believe that his crew's ship didn't come. He wanted to slash the heads off who were on that ship. He turned back to the ocean opening and was soon pleased to what he saw. "Well...it seems that my ship _did _show up!" Blocking the opening, was the ship of the Koopa Pirates. The Koopa Troopas on the ship had all the cannons turned towards the Kong's steamboat.

"Uhm...guys!" Luigi nervously said. "It looks like we didn't lose them." The rest looked behind them and saw the Pirate Koopa Ship. They had thought they escaped pursuit, but somehow the Pirate Koopas were able to follow them.

"That must be their ship." Mario whispered to Sonic. The hedgehog nodded.

The Captain Lakitu laughed out in amusement yet again. "Arrgh! Now, get ready to face the true terror of the Koopa Pirate Gang!" He floated up into the air and pointed to his ship with his cutlass. "Alright, my crew! Fire at these irritating fools!" Suddenly, the pirate Koopa ship began to load it's cannons at the Kong's steamboat.

Amy quickly opened the cabin of the steamboat and yelled to the both of the Kongs. "Donkey Kong! Move the boat before they shoot at us!" The steamboat tried to back up, but it's paddles were stuck in the sand. Mario and Sonic quickly reacted, beginning to run up to their friends to help. The cannons were up to shoot when something unexpected happened.

_SWOOSH!_

The water in the cavern began to move. It started to sway in a slow circular motion. The pirate Koopa ship was the first to get caught along in the current. The crew on the ship hastily fired the cannons, only to miss their target by a few inches due to the wave moving them. Everyone was confused from what was happening.

"What's going on?" Yoshi yelled to the others. They all looked as the waves began to move faster.

"It's...a whirlpool!" Tails hollered out. Everyone was shocked. They were confused to how a whirlpool was suddenly forming inside the cavern. They all looked down into the water to see what the source was. Meanwhile, the whirlpool itself was becoming stronger. The current moved faster, causing the pirate Koopa ship to spin out of control. The bow of the ship reached to the steamboat, causing to crash itself into it and push it the steamboat out from the beach and into the current itself. The others shouted as they spun out of control on the steamboat.

"We've got to help them somehow!" Sonic said. But he knew he could only watch as his friends spun around in the whirlpool.

The whirlpool began to spin faster and faster, almost as fast as the blades of a helicopter. Mario looked down to the water, noticing that the tide was rising on the beach. He pointed it to Sonic. "This doesn't look good."

The Koopa Pirate gang on shore also noticed the tide rising. The Captian Lakitu commanded his crew to carry their chest onto higher land. They couldn't reach the rock platform, so they stayed near one of the corners of the cavern. Mario and Sonic had no choice but to follow them. The tide quickly rose up along the shore, eventually covering almost the whole cavern with water.

Both ships was spinning wildly in the whirlpool. Everyone was screaming. Suddenly, the pirate Koopa ship reached the center of the whirlpool and quickly got sucked up inside it! This surprised everyone. Where could a huge ship like that go?

"Arrggh! My ship!" the Captain Lakitu shouted. "What happened to my beautiful pirate ship!"

Sonic remembered the huge trench below the water. He assumed that must've been where the ship was sucked into. He soon realized something. "Oh no!" He turned to Mario. "Since that happened to their pirate ship, the same thing will happen to the others!"

Soon, the Kong's steamboat reached the center of the whirlpool. Mario and Sonic could only watch in horror as their friends were completely sucked into the whirlpool. They expected the whilrpool to die down by then, but it kept going. To everyone's shock, the water quickly became much higher than before, causing everyone to get caught into the whirlpool. It swept the pirate Koopa gang, their treasure chest and both Mario and Sonic into the whirlpools current. They all spun around in the strong whirlpool, desperately trying to swim out of it. It was no use. None of them couldn't get out of the whirlpool.

This was definetely not good news to Sonic. He couldn't swim! He splashed around helplessly, calling for Mario's help. The plumber couldn't do anything either. He swam as strong as he could, but could not beat the current. In a matter of moments, everyone was sucked into the raging whirlpool and down into the underwater trench. It took a moment for whirlpool to die down. It soon became disturbingly quiet in the cavern, as if nothing happened...

* * *

_**Below the Big Blooper Ocean...**_

The Big Blooper Ocean was beautiful to look at on surface, but below the waters, it was magnificent. The ocean had many underwater plants and reefs, all of different bright colors. Various creatures lived under the sea, including Bloopers, Cheep-Cheeps and the spiky Urchins. There were many underwater caves and ruins in the Big Blooper Ocean that you couldn't keep track of how much there were.

There was a certain pipe underwater. It was placed on top of a rock covered with red and blue coral. A small current was coming out of it. A Blooper was swimming by it at the time and looked curiously around the pipe and eventually inside the pipe. It soon got a surprise. A bunch of grey Koopa shells popped out of the pipe, including a Lakitu shell. It was the shells of the Koopa pirate gang. They each popped out of their shells. They were a bit dizzy from the whirlpool. Luckily they knew how to swim.

Following them was their treasure chest. It popped out of the pipe, smacking one of the Koopa Troopas out of the way. The Captain Lakitu saw it and swam quickly as it could to retrieve it. Before he could, Sonic and Mario popped out and smacked into the treasure chest, causing it to float into a nearby underwater canyon. The Captain Lakitu became furious at them. He motioned his crew to attack. The Koopa Troopas retreated into their shells. They quickly began to spin around in the water and shot themselves towards the two.

Mario quickly saw this and swam towards Sonic, who was holding his breath and desperately trying to swim. The plumber grabbed a hold of his arm and swam both of them out of the Koopa Troopa's attack. The Koopa Troopas chased after them, while the Captain Lakitu began to swim up to surface. Mario swam him and Sonic into the large, underwater canyon, chasing after the treasure chest that held the Power Star. The Koopa Troopas where on their tail. They continued shooting themselves at the heroes, but always seemed to miss.

The duo entered the underwater canyon, eventually evading from the Koopa Pirate Gang. It was somewhat small as you could already see the bottom of it in the distance. The heroes wondered where their friends had gone. While Mario was looking, Sonic tapped his shoulder. He looked, seeing that Sonic was running out of breath. The plumber panicked, as he too was running out of breath.

_"Mamamia! This isn't-a good!"_

Mario grabbed Sonic and began to swim to surface, when Sonic pointed down into the canyon. On one of the sides, was a small, red pipe. Bubbles were coming out of it. Sonic motioned Mario they should swim to it and swallow the air bubbles. Mario quickly swam them there, almost out of air. He quickly swallowed the air bubble, feeling a refreshed with the a new breath of air. Another air bubble came out, which Sonic quickly swallowed. The soon returned to finding their friends.

"_Where could they have gone?" _thought Sonic. They looked around the small canyon area. Mario soon noticed something. At the bottom of the canyon was a mysterious underwater entrance to a ruin. The two quickly swam themselves down there. Around the ruins, were broken down pillars. Near the entrance itself were small, stone statues of stone Bloopers. The two were cautious to enter it when they found something right in front of the entrance.

It was the chest of the pirate Koopa gang! It was on it's side and it was open, which meant the Power Star could've went inside the ruins. Sonic also noticed something. He pointed something red underneath the chest to Mario. The plumber swam to it and tried to grab it out, but he couldn't due to the chest being heavy. He swiftly kicked the chest onto it's back, able to pick up the object. It turned out to be Diddy Kong's red hat. The two looked at each other, knowing that their friends were just here and possibly in the ruins. Mario grabbed Sonic's arm and they both swam into the ruins.

_"They have to be inside here..." _Mario hoped. The looked at the walls of the ruins. It had various pictures carved into the stone-blue walls, usually pictures of Bloopers. They heroes assumed they were in a ruin that worshiped Bloopers. The two continued swimming through the hallway of the ruins. Suddenly, they came across a fork in the hallway. They had to choose either left or right.

Mario wanted to go left, but Sonic wanted to go right. They began to argue a little when suddenly a strong current pulled them into the left hallway. The two fought the strong current, but they could only be helplessly pulled by it. They went through twists and turns through the ruins until they reached a small room, which was a dead end. It seemed like they couldn't go anywhere until they noticed a light above them. Mario swam them towards it, soon surfacing into another small room. They surfaced in a cracked hole near the corner of the room. The two slowly climbed out of the hole, relieved that they were finally out of the water. They took a moment to breathe.

"Man...I certainly don't want to do_ that_ again..." Sonic gasped. He lied down onto his back, happy they were out of the water. He hoped that they were past the worst.

Mario shook his head to get the water out of his hair. If he had his hat, it wouldn't have gotten wet in the first place. He also squeezed the water out of Diddy Kong's hat. He began to look around the room. It seemed like another dead, but he quickly found that one of the walls was broken down from a strong force. Judging from the shape of the wall, he knew it have only been the big ape himself. "We're getting closer to the others, Sonic. They've been here."

Sonic slowly got up and dried his quills. He looked at the hole in the wall. Their friends were definetely here. But where could they have gone? "Well, we should see where this hole leads to. Come on."

The two climbed through the hole, finding themselves in a small hallway. On the other side was a flight of stairs, but they were blocked by steel bars. Before it was a hole that led back underwater. The heroes wondered what to do.

Sonic jumped over the hole and inspected the cage. It needed a key to open it. He turned to Mario. "Hmm...do you see any key around here?" Mario looked around the hallway. He turned up and saw two Question Blocks floating beside each other. One had already been broken. Mario decided to open the other one with a strong jump. He hit the Question Block and out popped a power-up. It fell to Mario's feet and the plumber picked it up. He recognized the old power-up.

"Hey! This is the Frog Suit!" Mario said to Sonic. It had been a long time since he had seen one of them. He quickly put it on. He was now Frog Mario!

Sonic pointed at him and began to laugh. "Haha! Wow! You look kind of ridiculous in that suit!" He continued to laugh. Mario gave him an annoyed look. He felt great in the Frog Suit, even though he looked silly in it. The Frog Suit gave him the power to swim faster in water and jump higher with a simple hop.

After Sonic stopped laughing, he turned back to the situation. "Okay, so the key wasn't in one of those blocks. Where do you think it could be?"

Mario looked down the hole. He was uncertain, but it was their only choice. He turned to Sonic. "Stay here." Without warning, he hopped down into the hole, causing a big splash around him. Sonic became soaked from the splash. He was surprised from Mario's action. What was that plumber doing?

Underwater, Mario was swimming deeper into the ruins. With the new Frog Suit, he swam faster than he could. He knew that the key was around here somewhere, but where? He came across another big room in the ruins. Mario looked around. In the middle of the ruins, was an old, looking pirate ship. Mario swam towards it. He looked around the pirate ship, seeing no sight of a key. He decided to check inside the ship, so he swam through one of the portholes.

It was hollow in the ship. There seemed to be nothing inside it. He checked every corner of the ship, until something caught his eye. There, dug into the sand, was a golden key! Mario hastily swam towards it and pulled it out of the sand. With the key in his possession, he began to swim back to where Sonic was. He was about to exit the ship through the porthole, until...

_RAWWRGH!_

Mario turned back and saw a shocking sight. Coming out from one of the shadows was a large, maroon-colored eel. It had sharp teeth and a yellow-purple striped finson going along the back. It chomped it's teeth to Mario, hungry for a meal. Mario panicked and quickly swam out of the pirate ship, with the eel chasing him.

Back in the hallway ruins, Sonic lied down on the floor, bored. He was waiting for Mario to come back. The hedgehog began to think about their friends. Were they okay? They had just reunited with them back at the volcano's cavern and now they were lost. He also began to wonder about the pirates. He wondered what happened to them. He also wondered how they had found Power Star. It didn't matter to him now. They needed to get that Power Star. It was his only hope for him, Tails and Amy to get back home to their dimension.

He looked back to the hole in the hallway, noticing that there were bubbles surfacing. Sonic began to look deeper into the water, when Mario suddenly splashed out of it. He landed on top of Sonic. The hedgehog pushed him off. "Hey! What was that about? Did you find the key?"

He turned to Mario, who had the key in his hands, but he was already jiggling it into the cage door's keyhole. The door opened and Mario began to hop up the stairs. Sonic scratched his head in confusion, wondering why Mario seemed like he was in a hurry. Suddenly the eel splashed out of the hole. It roared loudly and turned to Sonic with a vicious look on it's face. Sonic screamed and quickly ran up the flight of stairs before the eel had a chance to take a bite out of him.

Sonic caught up to Mario, who was already halfway up the stairs. He looked at him with an angry look. Mario wondered what was wrong. "Dude! You could've warned me about that giant eel back there!" The plumber could only shrug in embarrassment. They continued to climb up the stairs in silence, soon reaching the top.

The two found themselves in a much larger room in the ruins. The room had a dome-shaped roof. It was painted a light-blue. The floor of the ruins was made up of dark-blue stone tiles. There were pillars placed around the room. Although, it looked beautiful, the other half of the floor was gone, leaving a huge pool of water in it's place.

The two explored around the room for a bit. It was gigantic! They could not believe something like this was hidden deep under the ocean. While they were looking, they heard a shout. Someone was calling them. They looked and saw their friends near the edge of the floor, waving at them. The two couldn't believe it, their friends were okay! They both ran up to them, happily reunited.

"Guys! I can't believe your okay!" Sonic said to them. He was quickly grabbed by Amy and she began to hug him.

"Oh, Sonic! I knew you were alright! I just knew it!" Amy said to him. Sonic was a bit embarrassed, but he could only smile. He was glad she was okay. He turned to Tails, who was also happy to see him.

"Hey, pal! How ya doing?" Sonic said. He walked up to him and playfully messed the fox's hair.

"I'm good." Tails simply said. He looked down. "But the DS Horror isn't doing too well." He took it out of his pocket and showed it to Sonic. It was all broken and had water dripping out of it.

Sonic comforted the fox. "I'm sorry about that, buddy. But hey, I bet Professor Gadd will be able to fix it." Tails nodded back to him.

Mario walked up to his friends and was playfully tackled down by Yoshi. The dinosaur was so happy to see him that his tail was even wagging. "Haha! Yoshi! I missed you to. Now get off."

Yoshi helped Mario up. He noticed that was wearing the Frog Suit. "Hey! So you found the suit too!" Mario gave him a confused look. Yoshi pointed to Luigi, who was sitting at the edge of the floor. He was also wearing a Frog Suit. He turned to him, with an annoyed look.

"You couldn't _believe_ what I've been through." He sternly said to Mario. His brother walked up to him and patted him on the back, assuring to him that it was alright.

Mario turned to the Kongs and saw the sad look on Diddy Kong's face. Mario knew just what to do. He walked up to him, shuffled through his pocket and took out Diddy's hat. Diddy Kong couldn't believe it. He took his hat back and put it on his head. "Oh boy! You found it? Thanks Mario!" The chimp danced around happily. Donkey Kong gave a grin and a thumbs-up to Mario, thanking him.

After a long journey, the heroes were finally united!

"So," began Sonic. "Did you guys happen to find the Power Star?" The rest were confused, except Mario. They didn't know that the Power Star was inside the pirate Koopa Gang's treasure chest and it had possibly gotten itself somewhere inside the ruins. Mario and Sonic explained the situation to their friends. Now that they were together, they agreed to search around the ruins and find the Power Star.

Little did they know, they were being watched.

_"Hahaha...finally...I've found them..."_

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes are united! What will happen next? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

**Author Notes: Wow! This is my longest chapter I've written yet! Man, I'm tired. But it was worth it. It was hard to choose whether or not to keep some of the things in this chapter, or move them to the next one. I wanted to keep the progression smooth and not just cut the chapter halfway in an action scene or something. Well if you like long chapters, here you go!**

**Here is some trivia for you! The scene where Mario finds the key in the abandoned ship is based of the mission in Jolly Roger Bay in "Super Mario 64." It's based off the one where you have to get the eel to go out of the ships window to get the star inside the ship. I've also wanted to implement another Power-up in the story. I chose the Frog Suit because it seemed to fit well in the environment of the story.**

**Oh yeah, once this chapter is up, this story will have over 100,000 words in it! Amazing!**

******I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Remember every Saturday evening is a new chapter! See you guys next time and thanks for the support. Check my profile for updates on my stories and remember to answer the question of the week below!**

******(Question of the Week) - It was announced that Sonic Generations would have the Chemical Plant Zone playable. What other levels would you hope to show up in the upcoming game?**

******************-********I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	29. Tentacle Wrangle!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 29: Tentacle Wrangle!_**

* * *

_**Big Blooper Ocean, Mysterious Blooper Ruins**_

The heroes were together in one of the large rooms of the ruins under the Big Blooper Ocean. They were planning on how to find the Power Star that got itself lost in the ruins. This would be no easy task, as they would have to swim through the most dangerous places in order to find it.

"Out of all the places, the Power Star itself had to be lost inside this _large_ aquarium!" Luigi complained. He still wore the Frog Suit he had found, along with Mario.

Sonic agreed with him. "I'm not a fan of water myself, Luigi. But we need to find that Power Star. It's the only way that me, Tails and Amy are going to get back to our dimension."

Tails looked to his broken Gadd DS Horror. It broke when it got submerged into the whirlpool. It wouldn't even turn on anymore and was pretty useless. "If only my DS Horror hadn't broken. Then this search would be much easier for us."

Diddy Kong had been looking around the huge room while the heroes conversed. He suddenly caught something in the corner of his eye. "Hey! What's that shiny thing over there?" He pointed to the roof of the large room. Up there, wedged into a small crack in the roof, was the Power Star! The heroes couldn't believe it!

"Wow! What _amazing_ luck that was!" Yoshi exclaimed. "Who would have thought that the Power Star was in the _exact _same room we were in!"

Luigi was slightly amused from Yoshi's comment. "Hehe...yeah."

Sonic gently nudged at Tails. "You think you can handle this one?" Tails quickly nodded. He soon rotated his two tails in a helicopter motion, allowing him to fly through the air. He flew himself up to the Power Star. With a grunt of effort, he pulled the Power Star out from the small crack. A few drops of water fell from the crack. Tails quickly flew back to the others, holding the Power Star with both hands.

"Whoa! That was cool!" Diddy Kong exclaimed. He was astonished from Tails' ability to fly with his tails.

The heroes were finally finished in the underwater ruins. They were reunited and found the next Power Star. Now all that was left was to get out of there. But how? They looked around, wondering where they should go. Suddenly...

_RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!_

A loud rumbling noise engulfed throughout the room. The floor began to shake under the heroes. What was going on? The water that filled half of the room because of the broken floor began to move. A large creature slowly came out of the water. It had huge, wiggling tentacles. It slammed them on the floor near the heroes. Mario and Sonic quickly recognized the creature.

It was Gooper Blooper!

"What is that thing?" Amy hollered out. But before her question was answered, Gooper Blooper gave out a piercing roar that shook the whole ruins. Once it was done roaring, Gooper Blooper raised one of it's tentacles towards them, preparing to squish them. The heroes dived out of the way, just as the tentacle slammed into the floor.

"That was close!" Tails said. He slowly got up, still holding the Power Star in his hands. Gooper Blooper saw the Power Star in the fox's hand and quickly swiped it from him with it's tentacle. "Hey! Give that back!" Tails chased after the tentacle with the Power Star when a dark, purple mist appeared in front of him. It slowly faded, revealing the shadow figure.

"Aahh...the brainy mechanic..." the shadow figure said in a tone of disgust. "It's been awhile since we've met." Suddenly, a shadow paint brush appeared in it's hand. The shadow figure swung it with tremendous force, knocking Tails backwards. The fox let out a scream, collapsing on the floor with a loud thud. The heroes were shocked.

"_Tails!_" Sonic shouted. He quickly ran up to his friend's side. Tails was badly hurt. His left arm sustained the most injury. Sonic looked up to the shadow figure, enraged. "You monster!"

The shadow figure gave him an evil smirk, amused at Sonic's rage at him. He pointed his shadow paintbrush at him. "What are you going to do, pitiful hedgehog? Attack me?" Sonic had the urge to spin attack him, but before he could the shadow figure disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. "I think you have better things to deal with right now," his voice boomed in the ruins. "like the destructive power of the tentacled monster before you!"

Gooper Blooper gave out another loud roar. After that he spewed out a sloppy, green goop from his tube-like mouth, covering most of the floor. The heroes were disgusted.

"Eww! Gross!" Amy shrieked out. Her disgust from the goop was soon interrupted when Gooper Blooper slammed it's tentacle near the heroes. They all ran behind a pillar to avoid the incoming attacks. Sonic carried Tails in his arms and headed to the others.

"What do we do now!" Luigi said to them. He was freaking out again.

Mario calmed him down. "Listen, we need to get the Power Star back from Gooper Blooper." The heroes agreed. They had to fight the tentacle monster. Tails wanted to help, but Sonic told him he needed to rest his arm. They quickly came up with a plan. Mario and Sonic would try and take the Power Star from Gooper Blooper's tentacle while Luigi, Yoshi and Donkey Kong distracted it.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Donkey Kong pounded his chest. He ran from behind the pillar and began to wave at Gooper Blooper, trying to get it's attention. Yoshi and Luigi joined him.

"What about us?" Amy asked Sonic. He pointed to Tails and Diddy Kong, telling her that she needed to keep them and herself protected. Amy nodded. "Good luck Sonic. And _don't_ do anything crazy."

Sonic gave her a quick grin and soon joined Mario. He was still donning his Frog Suit. "Are you sure you don't want to take that off?" Sonic asked him. Mario shook his head. He knew that this power-up should help them fight Gooper Blooper.

Luigi, Yoshi and Donkey Kong did their best to attract Gooper Blooper's attention. They shouted as loud as they could to Gooper Blooper, but it didn't seem to work. Gooper Blooper kept it's attention to the Power Star in it's tentacle, admiring it's shining glow. Yoshi became irritated. "Time to kick it up a notch!" Yoshi quickly turned Luigi and spit his tongue at him, swallowing the poor plumber. He immediately shot him out of his mouth and towards Gooper Blooper. Luigi shouted as he rocketed in the air. He slammed hard on Gooper Blooper's face and fell into the water.

"Haha! Nice shot!" Donkey Kong said to Yoshi. He gave him a quick high-five.

Gooper Blooper was now mad! He turned towards Yoshi and Donkey Kong and directed two of it's tentacles towards them. Luckily, they jumped out in time, causing the tentacles to slam into the floor. Donkey Kong took advantage of this and grabbed the tentacles with his mighty arms. He began to tie them up in a complicated knot, disarming them. Gooper Blooper was even madder! He began to spit shots of goop at them.

Meanwhile, Luigi was just climbing back onto the floor, exhausted. He couldn't believe that Yoshi shot him right into Gooper Blooper's face! "I swear, when I get my hands on Yoshi, I'm-a gonna-" but before he finished his sentence, he was bombarded with goop from Gooper Blooper. He became all covered with goop from head to toe. Mario and Sonc came running up to him, ready to take the Power Star.

"Hey, nice distracting, Luigi!" Sonic gave him a thumbs-up, then quickly turned back to Gooper Blooper. "Now how are we going to get the Power Star from this tentacled freak?" He quickly turned to Mario, who was slowly back up from where he was. The plumber paused for a moment, then began to hop forward. He jumped right at the edge of the floor. He flew across the air and grabbed onto Gooper Blooper's tentacle that held onto the Power Star. The tentacle began to wiggle ferociously, trying to throw Mario off. The plumber held on for his dear life. Sonic was impressed.

"Okay...now what can _I _do?" The hedgehog thought for a moment. He soon thought of something. He charged up a spin-dash and aimed himself directly at Gooper Blooper's face. He rolled across the floor at intense speed and jumped right at the edge. Still in spin-dash form, he flew in the air and landed directly onto Gooper Blooper's forehead. He drilled his spin-dash there, causing major damage on Gooper Blooper. It roared in pain, letting go of the Power Star. It fell into the water. Mario dived down for it, while Sonic jumped off of Gooper Blooper's forehead and back onto the floor.

Gooper Blooper began to slowly sink down into the water. It gave out one final cry before being fully submerged. It became eerily silent in the ruins.

Diddy Kong, along with Amy and Tails, walked from behind the pillar. They saw that Gooper Blooper was gone. Diddy Kong let out a cheer. "Wow! That was _super_ amazing! I wish I could've helped!"

The heroes basked in their victory for awhile, until Luigi noticed something. "Wait a minute, where's Mario?" The group looked around, finding no sign of the plumber with them. They soon rushed to the edge of the floor and looked down into the water. They were expecting him to swim up to surface, but it didn't happen.

"Something bad must've happened." Tails commented. "I mean, Mario is a good swimmer and he should have surfaced by now. Someone has to check if he's alright." At first, they were all reluctant to dive down there. But suddenly, Sonic grew the courage to check for himself. He jumped off the floor and dived into the water.

"Sonic!" Amy shouted to him. She couldn't believe he had done something like that because he was a terrible swimmer.

Sonic was underwater. He began to look around, seeing no sign of Mario. He didn't know how to swim, he all he could do was flail his arms backwards to thrust himself forwards deeper into the water. For awhile, he couldn't find Mario, until he came across something. There, right in front of nhim, was Gooper Blooper! Sonic was about to panick when he found out that Gooper Blooper's eyes were closed. Sonic assumed he was unconscious. He looked around for a bit until he saw a bright yellow glow. Sonic "swam" towards it and was shocked.

In one of the tentacles, was Mario! He was unconscious, but in his hand was the Power Star! Sonic unwrapped Mario from the tentacle. The plumber's body began to float back up to surface, along with the Power Star. Sonic was about to swim back up when something grabbed his leg. He looked down and found the same tentacle was wrapped around his leg. Sonic tried to free himself, but to no avail. He looked back to Gooper Blooper's face and saw one of it's eyes open, staring right at him. Even though Gooper Blooper was defeated, he had enough strength to hold down Sonic with it's tentacle.

Sonic soon lost his breath from trying to free himself. Before he lost conscious, he saw a figure swimming towards him...

* * *

_"...wake up..."_

_"...onic..."_

_"...up...Soni..."_

Sonic soon woke up, feeling a little lightheaded. He found himself lying down on the floors of the ruins. Staring back at him was the others. They were relieved when Sonic came back to conscious.

"...what happened?" Sonic asked them. He slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead. "Where's Mario? How did I get back up here?"

Tails began to explain. "Well first off, Mario is okay." Beside him, was the plumber himself. He was out of his frog suit and back into his regular attire, including his hat. He winked at the hedgehog, as a sign of thank you.

"After we recovered him, we were expecting you to come back out of the water, but you didn't..." Tails continued. "We began to worry about you, so suddenly, out of surprise, Amy dove down into the water to find you. She was able to free you from the tentacle and swim you both up just in time before Gooper Blooper could grab a hold of you again."

Sonic was surprised. He couldn't believe that Amy had done something so courageous like that. And for him... "...where is she now?" The heroes turned to the edge of the floor. There, Amy was lying down on her back, apparently unconscious. Sonic quickly stood up and rushed to her side. He held her in his arms, worrying about her. "Amy! Wake up!" For a moment, she didn't respond. But then, she spoke a single word.

"...Sonic..." She began to open her eyes and saw him staring back at her. "You're okay!" She quickly hugged him, causing the hedgehog to fall backwards a bit.

Sonic nodded and smiled. "All because of you." The two began to stare at each other for a moment. Sonic broke the silence. "You know, I'm a bit impressed that you saved me. Just promise me, next time, _don't _do anything crazy." Amy gave out a small laugh and they both got up.

"Well, that was fun!" Yoshi exclaimed. "But we should probably get out of here. It's starting to smell fishy in these underwater ruins." He gave out a disgusted face.

The heroes wondered how they would get out of here. They couldn't go back, due to the strong current that lead them into the ruins itself. Suddenly, the shadow figure appeared in the air above them. He was furious.

"I can't _believe _that not enough a titanic squid could kill you!" the shadow figure roared viciously at them. "Do I have to do everything myself?" Suddenly, the shadow figure raised it's shadow paintbrush into the air. It gave out a dark sparkle. Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise was heard in the ruins. The shadow figure slowly gave them an evil wave, and disappeared. The heroes were confused to what was happening.

All of a sudden, a hole popped out of the roof in the room, causing water to come in. Then another hole popped out and another. Soon the roof was full of holes. This was not a good sign to the heroes. In a split second, the whole roof broke apart and a huge amount of water crashed into the room, submerging the heroes. A strong current caught them and they were soon tumbling across the ocean ruins yet again. Luckily, it lead them out of the ruins and out into the surface of the Big Blooper Ocean. They were all coughing and couldn't believe that they were out of the ruins.

"I can't believe it!" Luigi shouted. "We're out of that miserable underwater ruins! YEEAAAH!" He hugged the closest person near him, which was Yoshi.

"It looks like that shadow figure's plan backfired." Donkey Kong said. Diddy Kong was standing on his back, squeezing the water out of his hat.

"Well, atleast we're out of there." Sonic said. He turned to Mario, who was floating leisurely on his back. "Hey, what are ya doing? We need to find our way back to shore."

"I'm-a just taking a moment to relax. I really need it." Mario answered back to him. It was true. He had been through a lot in the past couple of hours. He had been thrown overboard off a cruise ship, stranded on a desert island, swam through the ruins at the bottom of the ocean and almost drowned. He really deserved the rest. Sonic swam up to him, looked at him for a moment and joined him. He floated on his back, resting for a moment. It was nice to relax, even though they were in the middle of the ocean.

"Hey! Look! A bird!" Yoshi pointed at something in the sky. It was far off in the distance, so it was hard to actually tell what it was. But was it got closer, it was easier to identify it.

Tails swam up to Yoshi and gave a closer look at the "bird". "Yoshi, that's no bird. That's a helicopter!" Sure enough, it was a helicopter. But just not any helicopter. It was the Chop Chop Helicopter! It belonged to Princess Peach. The heroes waved at the helicopter as it slowly hovered towards them. A rope ladder was thrown down to them. One by one, they each climbed up the ladder and into the helicopter. Mario was the last one to climb inside and was greeted by a hug from Princess Peach.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so glad you're all okay." Peach said to him. "I thought I'd never see you again. We sent out search parties everywhere, but we just couldn't find you. " The voice in her tone seemed like she was about to cry.

Mario gently comforted her. "It's okay, princess. We're all safe now." He gave her an assuring smile, which calmed her down a bit. "By the way, how were you guys able to find us just now?"

"Well, were able to get some help from a fine gentleman." Peach explained. Suddenly, Professor Gadd appeared out from the cockpit and greeted the heroes.

"Heeheehee! Well you all seemed to have enjoyed a fine swim out in the ocean, I presume." Gadd joked to them. "Honestly though, I'm quite glad you're all okay."

"Professor Gadd!" Sonic exclaimed to him. "You were able to find us? But how exactly?"

Gadd began to explain. "Well, you see I was keeping great attention to where you all were by looking at my tracker I had that tracked down the coordinates to where my Gadd DS Horror went." Tails took out the Gadd DS Horror from his pocket, which was still broken. "Once the signal had disappeared due a malfunction from the DS Horror, I thought something bad had happened to all of you, so I told the princess about this and well, here we are."

"That's really clever thinking, professor." Tails said. "But all at the cost of your DS Horror being destroyed.." The professor walked up to Tails and took the DS Horro out of his hand, carefully inspecting it.

"Do not worry, young fox! Nothing I can't do to fix it. You'll be having a brand _new _DS Horror once I've fixed and tinkered with this one." Tails was happy to hear this. Gadd reminded them of something. "By the way, the Power Star was close to where you heroes were. Did you happen to retrieve it?"

The heroes looked at each other. Mario had it last, but now he didn't. They thought the Power Star had been washed out into the ocean from the current the shadow figure had made. Suddenly, Diddy Kong spoke up. "I have it!" He took the Power Star out of his jet backpack. He handed it to professor Gadd.

"Good job, young monkey. Right when we get back to my garage, I'll pop this Power Star into the Gadd Teleportificationtron. Hopefully, this one will take Sonic and his friends back home. But right now, you all must dry off at the resort."

And so, the heroes took a well deserved break during the helicopter ride back to Daisy Resort. Surely, Daisy was there waiting to greet them for their return. It soon started to become sunset.

During the ride, Yoshi was sitting in the back seat, alone. He turned his back towards the others so they wouldn't see what he was doing. He went through his pocket and took out a green emerald. It shined in his hand. Yoshi was dazzled by the sparkle it gave off.

_"Man, this gift that Catherine gave me is the best!"_

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Junior's Bedroom_**

Junior was alone in his bedroom, yet again. He was lying on his bed, thinking. He had the Purple Chaos Emerald in his left hand. He wondered how he was going to tell him. How could he explain all this to his papa? Would he be proud of him? Even though he has been hiding this all along?

Suddenly, a shadowy, purple mist appeared in his bedroom. Junior stood up and stared at the mist. The mist disappeared, revealing the shadow figure. It stared back at Junior, noticing the troubled look on his face. "What seems to be the problem, young star child?"

"Oh...nothing." Junior answered. He put the Purple Chaos Emerald back into his pocket and jumped off his bed. He walked up to the shadow figure. "So, did you did it? Did you find the next star child?"

The shadow figure nodded to him. "Yes, indeed I did. It wasn't hard as I thought it would have been. With _your_ help, of course." Suddenly, a brown cloak appeared in the shadow figure's hand. He handed it to Junior.

"So, who was the next Star child?" Junior began to ask. "And how were you able to give the Chaos Emerald to them?"

The shadow figure took a moment to explain what he had done. "Well first, the Star child was a young, green dinosaur I had encountered before. Unfortunately, he was with _them. _The shadow figure remembered his plan. What he had done on the cruise ship to give the next Chaos Emerald to the star child, without _them _finding out. "I had to think of something. So I borrowed your brown cloak and used it so I could disguise myself as a mysterious business man. I sold the Green Chaos Emerald to the star child's supposed 'lover' and she gave it to him. Luckily, _they _didn't notice."

Junior nodded. "That must've been tricky. Now that you've found three of the Star Children, how are you going to find the next one?" The shadow figure stared back at him, with a demented look in his eyes.

"_I have..." _Suddenly, another Chaos Emerald appeared in the shadow figure's hand. It was the Blue Chaos Emerald. "I intend to give this to him tonight." The shadow figure suddenly gave out an evil laugh. "This Star child is somewhat of a coward, but this makes it _much_ easier. I have plans for that one Star Child..."

The shadow figure suddenly disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. Junior was a bit creeped out by the shadow figure's behavior, but soon shrugged it off. He knew that they were one step closer to ultimate power.

_"This will all be worth it..."_

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_Our heroes are finally safe from the dangers of the ocean! And they have found their next Power Star! Will this be able to send Sonic and his friends back into their dimension? And who seems to be the next Star Child the shadow figure is targeting? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

**_Author Notes: This chapter was pretty action-packed! I have worked pretty hard on this chapter. Let me say this, something twisted is about to happen in the next couple of chapters, so I hope you guys will like that too! _**

**_Anyways, I'm tired right now, so I don't have much to say. _********I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Every Saturday evening is a new chapter, so be sure to check it! See you guys next time and thanks for the support! **

**_(Question of the Week) - Do you remember which Mario characters are already in possession of the Chaos Emeralds at this point?_**

**-********I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega.**


	30. Spooky Invitation!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 30: Spooky Invitation!**_

* * *

**_Boo Woods, Gadd's Garage_**

It was a foggy night in Boo Woods, which created a creepy atmosphere in the area. This was the time when all sorts of scary, dangerous creatures would roam around the forest. Most likely though, you'll encounter a Boo floating around. They would come out of hiding, creep up behind unsuspecting wanderers and scare the life out of them.

At this time, our heroes were once again back at Gadd's Garage. They had just arrived from their adventure out in Big Blooper Ocean and were relieved to finally walk on dry land. The Kong's had split up from them back at Daisy Resort, heading back to Congo Jungle to rest and rebuild their steamboat after it had broken down from the whirlpool out at sea.

The heroes, along with Professor E. Gadd, were in the room with the Gadd Teleportificationtron. They had just given Gadd the Power Star they had found in the Blooper Ruins. The professor was already transferring the energy of the star into the machine. The heroes were watching him carefully.

"There we go!" Gadd exclaimed. He was at the control panel of his machine. On the screen, was the word "READY" blinking slowly. Gadd soon pressed the big, red button on the control panel, causing the Gadd Teleportificationtron to power up. It made a loud, charging sound. The bulb on top of the machine lit up. The machine continued to make the charging sound, which seemingly lasted for a full minute. Everyone in the room thought the machine was going to work! Unfortunately, they thought wrong.

The machine suddenly made loud banging noises inside. Smoke began to emit from the roof. The heroes panicked. What was happening with the machine? Gadd hurried to turn off the machine. He quickly pushed the power-off button. The machine took a few seconds to shut of completely. The light in the bulb slowly dimmed, while smoke stopped coming out of the machine. The heroes were relieved, but wondered what happened to the Gadd Teleportificationtron. It had never done that before.

Gadd was also confused. Not about how the machine failed to have enough power, but how it began to give out smoke. He looked at the statistics on the control panels screen. It showed that the machine had 57% star energy.

The heroes walked up to the control panel to also see the statistics. Mario was confused, as like everyone was. He spoke up, "Uhm...Gadd? Any thoughts on _why_ the machine started to act bizarre like-a that?"

Gadd thought for a moment, trying to come up with a logical explanation. He soon spoke. "Well, according to my calculations, the more star energy the Gadd Teleportification has stored, the greater the malfunction will be if the machine cannot make a portal. In short, more power, the worser the consequences of a failed portal creation." He turned to the others, who were kind of understanding what he was trying to say. "The only way we can assure the machine to not blow up in our faces and create a portal, we need 100% star energy! Which means..."

"...yeah, yeah, we know. We've got to collect more Power Stars..." Sonic said, a bit annoyed. "We've heard this like, three times already." He had hoped that this Power Star was the one that would send Sonic and his friends home. Apparently, that wasn't the case.

The heroes looked forward to another adventure to find their next Power Star. But they couldn't go just yet. Princess Peach's lookout Toad needed to see where the next Power Star would land and since it was still early in the night, they had to wait. The group decided they would wait at the Mario Bros. house. Before they left, Gadd told them he had a letter for them.

"Follow me, everyone." Gadd said. He led them out of the Teleportificationtron room and into his personal workshop. Gadd opened a drawer, shuffled through it and took out a plain white envelope. It had the words, "To the Mario Bros." written on the front. Gadd handed it to Luigi, who slowly opened it. Inside was an invitation card. It was all white, which seemed weird for an invitation. On the front, was a simple red crown. Luigi seemed to recognize the crown, but quickly ignored it, wanting to read what's inside. He read the invitation aloud.

_"Congratulations! You have just been invited to a fancy party at my brand, new mansion! There will be lots of food and party events happening! So be there! Or else..." _The invitation did not have the sender's name, which was a bit creepy. The only thing that was left was a small map on the back of the invitation that led to the mansion.'

The heroes were a bit suspicious. Who would send a random invitation to a mansion party? They all wondered if they should go.

Yoshi had already made his mind up. "I think we should go!" He wanted to go for the food, of course. He was hungry, and the only thing he had eaten in the last 24 hours was bananas for breakfast.

"I'm not sure..." Tails said. He was a bit skeptical about the invitation. There were so many suspicious things about it. He just couldn't put his tongue on them.

Sonic was also in doubt, but he also thought about the positive. "You know, it wouldn't hurt if we passed by and had a quick look at the party. I mean, who knows, maybe it'll be a blast!"

After hard thinking, the heroes decided to check out the mansion party. The heroes said goodbye to Professor Gadd and soon left his garage. They carefully followed the directions of the map on the invitation. The fog in Boo Woods began to thicken. It was an eerie walk in the woods and it was their first time wandering around the woods in the night. Sometimes they would hear a creepy sound, but they would soon shrug it off. They continued their way to the mansion.

"I wonder who the mansion belongs to." Amy said as they walked through the woods. "And I wonder why they would invite us." She turned to the Mario Bros. "Do you think you know them?"

Luigi shrugged. He and his brother didn't know anyone who would be having a party. He was also a bit reluctant on going to the mansion. But, there was a party, and there would supposedly be food and events happening there.

The heroes soon arrived to their destination. They were awestruck at how gorgeous the mansion was. It was located at the edge of Boo Woods and stood on top of lush, green hill. The mansion itself was huge. It was painted entirely a dark-brown, with a maroon-colored roof. There were so many windows you could barely keep count. The mansion stood at three stories. All the lights in the mansion seemed lit.

The heroes slowly walked up the path to the front doors. They wondered if anyone was home. The heroes pressured Luigi to knock the doors. He was a bit reluctant. He slowly raised his hand and knocked on the door. The heroes waited for someone to answer, but no one did. Luigi called out. "Hello?" Suddenly, the doors swung wide open, causing the heroes to fall backwards onto the ground. They slowly stood up and looked to the doorway. No one was standing there.

Sonic nervously chuckled. "Well...that's a bit creepy." He slowly entered the mansion, with the others following right behind him. Once they were all inside, the front doors suddenly slammed shut. This panicked the heroes. Mario and Luigi tried to open the doors, but to no avail. They wouldn't budge. It was if a mysterious force was holding it close.

"Well, it-a looks like we're stuck inside." Mario said. Even with the strongest budgem they couldn't open the doors. He began to give a better look at the inside of the mansion. The heroes were all in the foyer. There were two stairways that led to the second floor. There was a doorway under the stairways. Another door was also on top of the stairways. A bright chandelier lit the room up.

"What do we do now?" Yoshi asked. "And where is everybody? Isn't there supposed to be a party? And where's the food?" Yoshi crossed his arms, slightly disappointed there was no party or food.

The heroes began to wonder if there was actually a mansion party. They did not know who sent the invitation and suddenly they were stuck in thi mysterious mansion they didn't know about. And there wasn't even anyone there. It all seemed suspicious. All of a sudden, the lights shut down. The heroes were surprised. They were left in the eerie darkness of the mansion.

"Hey! Who turned out the lights?" Sonic said aloud. He was expecting an answer from somebody in the mansion. But no one did.

"Th-th-this is g-g-getting really c-c-creep-p-p-py!" Luigi stuttered. He began to shake a little from fear. Mario and Yoshi tried to comfort him. Just then, the chandelier began to sway back and forth. In a matter of moments, it unhooked from the ceiling and crashed down in front of the heroes, which frightened them. The glass flew into many directions, luckily not hitting anyone.

"I'm not liking where this is going..." Tails said to Sonic. He was holding onto one of his tails, a bit scared from what was happening.

"Uhm...don't worry," Sonic tried to assure him. "I'm sure that nothing else can go wrong." He surely regretted saying those words, because suddenly, the floor opened under him, causing him to fall down into the mansions lower levels. "Aaaah!"

"Sonic!" Amy called out to him. Before she could do anything, the floor also opened under her, causing her to fall in. The heroes panicked. What was going on? Suddenly, the floor under Tails opened up and he fell in too.

"Aaagh!" He shouted. He couldn't react fast enough to propel himself back up. The openings in the floor that caused Sonic and his friends to fall in closed off, leaving only the Mario Bros. and Yoshi in the foyer. They couldn't believe what happened. Their friends had disappeared right in front of them. Now they were sure that there was no mansion party. This was a trap!

"I'm-a scared!" Luigi squealed to his brother. His shaking became much more . Before MariIo could say anything, a loud demonic laugh was heard throughout the mansion. It had a raspy tone to it. It also sounded familiar.

"_Eeeheehee!" _A voice soon echoed. It was talking to the heroes. "_It seems you've gotten my invitation! I was getting oh so lonely in this gigantic mansion of mine! Why don't you come up to the attic, where the party is!" _

Yoshi was delighted to hear the words. "Oooh! There really_ is_ a party! Come on, let's go!" Suddenly, the door on the upper floor opened up. Yoshi raced up the stairs, but before he got to the top, they stairs suddenly turned into a slide. Yoshi slipped and tumbled down them, crashing onto the floor below. Mario and Luigi ran up to him. "Oww...that hurt." Luckily, Yoshi wasn't that injured.

"We have to be careful, Yoshi." Mario explained to him. "Whoever this person is, they want us to go up to the attic and confront them. And I'm-a positive that there is no party. This was a trap all along."

"B-but what about Sonic and the others?" Luigi asked him. "We have to find them!"

Mario nodded. He wanted to find them too. But their only way anywhere in the mansion was the open doors at the top of the stairs. They would have to keep their eyes open for Sonic and the others while they would head to the attic.

The trio climbed up the other set of stairs, which didn't cause them to slide down them. The slowly entered the doorway, which closed shut right behind them. The foyer fell into a bone-chilling silence in the darkness. Whoever was the mysterious person in the mansion, they wanted to harm the heroes...

* * *

_**Mysterious Mansion, Basement Boardwalk**_

Sonic slowly came to conscious. He sat up, feeling a bit dazed. He began to look at his surroundings. It was dark around him. He was sitting on the edge of what seemed to be a wooden boardwalk. It had a wooden railing and there were small, black lamp posts aligned at the edges, which gave him light. There was a thick fog under the boardwalk, which seemed odd.

"What is this place?" Sonic asked himself. He thought to himself. Was this supposed to be the basement of the mansion? Was he even still in the mansion? He began to wonder who could be doing all this. He already realized that there was no mansion party and it was all a trap for the heroes to fall into. He just coudln't believe they fell for it. Suddenly, he heard a voice call out to him. It sounded like Tails.

"_Sonic." _His ear perked itself to the call. He wondered where it was coming from. His name was called again, only this time, the voice sounded like Amy. "_Sonic." _

Sonic looked in front of him. All he could see was the rest of the boardwalk, which stretched as far as he could see. It was a long boardwalk. Sonic called out to the voices. "Tails! Amy! Where are you?" He received no answer. "I better check this out myself." He slowly ran across the boardwalk. It seemed to stretch much farther than he anticipated. It felt endless! But he had to keep going. He knew he heard his friends call for him.

He soon came across a dead end to the boardwalk. There was no where else to go. This confused Sonic. He was sure he heard his name being called. He decided to turn back when suddenly, the boardwalk began to shake under him. He looked back at the boardwalk and saw a huge, giant Cheep-Cheep bouncing after him! Sonic was really surprised. How could a fish appear out of nowhere on the boardwalk?

There was no other choice. He had to jump. Summing up the courage, Sonic jumped off the boardwalk and into the deep fog. The Cheep-Cheep had just missed him, falling into the fog as well.

"Aaaaah!" Sonic shouted. The hedgehog tumbled through the fog. It seemed like an hour passed while he was falling, but soon, he landed on another boardwalk.

"Man...what was the point of that?" Sonic groaned. He slowly stood up, quickly shaking off the fall. He looked in front of him. This time, the boardwalk seemed to lead to this old, abandoned-looking warehouse. It was completely painted grey. The windows were broken, only having pieces of glass left in the frames. Sonic slowly walked up to the warehouse, wondering why he was lead to this place.

"Well, might was well check what's inside." Sonic said. He entered the abandoned warehouse. To his surprise, it was completely empty! Nothing was inside it. Sonic inspected it closer. It seemed as if this place was abandoned a long time ago. The floor looked a bit rusty, plus there was a giant hole in the left side of the floor. Looking down it, you'd only see the fog. There were a few metal pillars in the warehouse. The one closest to Sonic had fallen and laid on it's side. What caught Sonic's attention was that there was no roof! What kind of warehouse has no roof?

Sonic crossed his arms, displeased to what he found. "Gee, nothing? I was hoping for something a bit more exciting." He shrugged and was about to leave when suddenly, he heard the voices call him again. He looked around the warehouse. No one was there. The voices seemed to get louder. Sonic was getting a bit disturbed, but also more curious. Where were the voice coming from?

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly jumped in panic. He turned around and there in front of him, was Tails and Amy.

"Oh...hey, it's you guys." Sonic said, relieved. He tried his best to hide his fright.

Tails looked at him curiously. He crossed his arms. "Sonic, did we happen to scare you?" The hedgehog quickly denied it and shook his head. Tails didn't believe him. "Hehe, I think you _were_ scared!"

"Oh come on Tails," Sonic tried to convince him. "I was not scared! I hardly _ever _get scared." He gave them his trademark grin, assuring him he was frightened.

"Well I believe you Sonic!" Amy said to him, giving him a small wink in the process. Sonic was a bit agitated by her action, but quickly shook it off.

"Anyway," Sonic began. "how did you guys happen to get here?" The two began to explain how they got there. When Tails had woken up, he found himself in a floating glass box. He had tried to break out of it, to no avail, until it shattered by itself. Amy found herself on a merry-go-round. It seemed to spin endlessly until she decided to hop off of it and find herself on the same boardwalk they were in. This really bothered Sonic. These were some really weird experiences they had. How could all of this have happened?

"I think there is something going on in this mansion." Tails explained. "We really need to get out of here before something disastrous happens!"

"But we can't leave without Mario and the others." Amy told them. "We have to find them first." Suddenly, the three heard a loud, gurgling sound. It was coming from inside the warehouse, behind Sonic. They looked and they saw a shadowy, purple mist start to form in the air. This was not good.

The purple mist soon disappeared and out came the shadow figure! It looked them with it's glowing, yellow eyes. It gave out a short, evil laugh. "Well, well, look what we have here..." It pointed it's shadow paintbrush towards them. "It's the pathetic three fools again!"

The trio got into their battle positions. They did not like seeing the shadow figure. "What are you doing here?" Sonic shouted. "Are you the one who's been doing this to us?"

The shadow figure was amused by Sonic's rage. "No need to become feisty, hedgehog. I just wanted to say 'hello' to you. We know each other quite well, don't we?" Sonic knew that the shadow figure was trying to make him snap, but he wouldn't allow him to.

The shadow figure noticed something about the heroes. Sonic, Tails and Amy were only there. The one he was looking for was _not _with them. "Where are the others? Tell me this instant!"

Sonic was confused. "Why are you asking us? Aren't you the one who separated us from them?"

The shadow figure did not know what he was talking about. Out of rage, he shot a blast of dark magic towards the heroes. The trio jumped out of the spells way, avoiding the small explosion it gave off. "I have no clue on what you are accusing me of! I followed_ you_ here to this mansion! _You_ should be telling me where they are." His voice seemed to boom with anger.

"Wait...so you...didn't trap us here in this mansion?" Sonic asked him. The shadow figure only gave him a cold gaze. "If you didn't...then who-" He was suddenly cut off by the shadow figure.

"I have no interest on who or what trapped you here!" The shadow figure yelled to him. His voice was becoming more and more demonic-like. "The only reason I was able to come here was because I followed _you _here! And you pathetic little creatures are not what I'm looking for, I might as well get rid of you right now!" The shadow figure aimed his shadow painbrush towards Sonic and shot out a shadowy lightning bolt towards him. Sonic dodged just in time as the bolt struck the floor, causing a thundering noise to emit and part of the floor to crumble away.

"Hey! Leave Sonic alone!" Amy shouted to the shadow figure. She took out her Piko Piko Hammer from her pocket and joined the battle. Tails tried to stop her, but knew he'd have to fight as well.

The shadow figure noticed the two coming towards him and shot a shadow lightning bolt towards them. Luckily it missed both of them. Amy ran closer to the shadow figure and swung her hammer at her. The shadow figure quickly teleported behind her. It was about to strike her with it's shadow paintbrush when Sonic quickly Homing Attacked him.

The shadow figure flew backwards and crashed into the left wall of the warehouse. He made a huge crack in the wall. The shadow figure quickly shook it off and cast a shadow beam from it's paintbrush. It struck the floor, causing an explosion to where it hit. The shadow figure shot multiple shadow beams at Sonic and his friends, but they quickly dodged them.

In the process of shooting the shadow beams, the warehouse was getting destroyed. Large holes were being made in the floor and the walls. The shadow figure shot one last shadow beam, which struck one of the standing pillars. The pillar fell onto the floor and created a loud thud. The warehouse began to crumble down from the force. The walls started breaking down. The heroes noticed what was going on

"Sonic! What do we do?" Tails shouted to him. Sonic looked at him and pointed up. Tails was confused at first, but figured out what he was trying to say. The fox quickly propelled his tails and flew into the air, grabbing Sonic's hand. He flew them towards Amy, who Sonic quickly grabbed. They flew out of the crumbling warehouse. The shadow figure quickly teleported out of there. The heroes watched and the boardwalk and the warehouse quickly sunk into the deep fog.

"That was close!" Amy said. "I'm just glad we're alright." She put her head onto Sonic's shoulder. The hedgehog didn't mind at the moment, now that he and his friends were alright.

"So where do we go now Sonic?" asked Tails. Now that the warehouse was gone, there was nothing left in the endless foggy area. Where were they supposed to go?

All of a sudden, the shadow figure reappeared in front of them and raised it's paintbrush at Tails. He quickly shot another shadow lightning bolt at him, hitting him directly in the chest. The attack paralyzed Tails for a moment, causing him to lose flight and fall into the deep fog. Sonic and Amy also fell into the fog. They shouted for Tails to regain flight, but he couldn't move.

The shadow figure just stared at them as he watched them fall. Once they disappeared, he quickly laughed, amused he had finally gotten rid of Sonic and his friends. After he stopped laughing, he quickly made the Blue Chaos Emerald appear in his hand. He looked at it admiringly. Once he had given the next Chaos Emerald, he would only have three more left.

But he had more plans for the next Star Child. He had a spell that he would cast upon the star child. He knew that this spell would guarantee stopping the heroes.

_"Now...to find that plumber!"_

_. _

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes are trapped inside the mysterious mansion! Will they be able to escape? And who really is up to this scheme? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**Author Notes: Well, I know it's no where near Halloween yet, but this chapter is pretty spooky! I tried to make story go a little bit faster in the beginning, so hopefully that was a good change.**

**Anyway, you should know by now who the next Star Child is. We know that Bowser Jr, Wario and Yoshi are the first three, but who are the next four? Maybe you know.**

**The mansion plot is obviously based off of Luigi's Mansion. But the color of the mansion if based off the one in "Boo's Big Haunt" in Super Mario 64. **

**The Basement Boardwalk that Sonic and his friends find themselves in is based off the Mario Kart 64 level, "Banshee Boardwalk". **

**The part where the giant Cheep Cheep is chasing Sonic is based off the Sonic Adventure level "Emerald Coast" where the whale is chasing Sonic! Pretty cool homages, right? :D**

**One more thing, something MAJORLY surprising WILL happen in the next chapter. How surprising? So surprising that you'll might be even happy it actually happened. But I can't tell you just yet.**

**Thanks for reading this chapter and thank you all for the support you've given me. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Remember, every Saturday evening is a new chapter.**

**P.S. This is the 30th chapter of the story! Amazing!**

**(Question of the Week) - Luigi's Mansion 2 had been announced at Nintendo's 2011 Press Conference. Are you excited about it?**

**-********I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	31. Haunt in the Mansion!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 31: Haunt in the Mansion!**_

* * *

_**********Mysterious Mansion, Upper Hallway**_

It was disturbingly quiet in the mansion. It was so quiet, you could here the sound of rodents scurrying behind the walls. The entire mansion was overflowed with darkness. There was no other place that could duplicate this creepiness the mansion contained.

At the moment, Mario, Luigi and Yoshi were tiptoeing through a long corridor on the second floor of the mansion. Hanging on the walls were various paintings of people. They all had fancy-looking frames. There were paintings of a grumpy old man, a women with no emotion on her face, a happy-looking brother and sister standing beside each other, and a butler who seemed to be shouting. The heroes wondered who these people were.

"I have to say, these paintings look really nice." Yoshi whispered to them. "I'm hoping there is a picture of a bowl of fruit somewhere." His stomach began to growl. Yoshi sighed. Whenever he would think of food, his belly would start to grumble. He _still_ hadn't eaten in hours! Yoshi was starting to become a little grumpy.

Luigi stopped walking and stared at the painting of the two children. Places such as mansions really gave him the chills, but the smiles on the brother and sister really gave him the shudders. They seemed to be too happy in the painting. It gave off such a creepy vibe. Luigi quickly took his eyes off the painting and continued through the corridor.

"I'm-a wondering where Sonic and the others might be," Mario said. "I just hope they are alright." The last time he had seen them was in the foyer, where the three had fallen down into the basement of the mansion. They had to find them before something bad happens.

Suddenly, a demonic laugh boomed through the corridor. The heroes freaked out and began to huddle with each other. The voice stopped laughing and began to talk. "_Eeheehee! What seems to be taking so long heroes? This party in the attic is starting to become a drag without you. Why you should hurry before it ends! Eeheehee!" _

The corridor became quiet once again. The heroes took a moment to relax. This mansion was really scaring them. They couldn't wait to get out of there! Unfortunately, a rumbling noise emitted in the corridor. Then walls began to shake! What was going on? Luigi was the first to notice the situation.

"WAAAAH! The walls are closing in on us!" he screamed. The walls slowly began to close on them. The heroes were about to get crushed! They hurried to the other side of the corridor, where a door was. Luigi turned the knob, but the door was locked! "AAAH! Mario! What do we do now?"

Mario began to think. He quickly remembered something! He shuffled through his pocket and took out his wooden hammer he received from Yoshi's Island. Luigi figured out his brother's plan and took out his wooden hammer. They began to take mighty swings at the door. Slowly, the door began to weaken. When it was weak enough, the heroes quickly slammed down the door, entering the next room. The walls shut into each other as they were about to crush the heroes. The heroes were safe!

"That was close!" Yoshi exclaimed. He quickly got up and brushed himself. "We could have been squished like bugs if we stayed any second longer in there."He helped the brothers up. They took a small break and began to look around the room they were in.

The heroes happened to be in the mansion's library! The room itself was huge. The walls had shelves that rose to the ceiling. Each shelf was packed full of books. There were so many books that it would take you more than a year to read all of them. In the center of the library was a round table with chairs. On the ceiling was a huge light bulb. It wasn't on at the time.

Mario began to look around the library, while Luigi and Yoshi took a seat at the table. The two began to talk about what was happening in the mansion. They wondered who was the voice in the mansion. Why all these strange things were happening to them. And most of all, where could Sonic, Tails and Amy be?

"Hmm...this is strange." Mario said. "There doesn't seem to be any exit here..." He had explored every inch of the library and couldn't find another doorway out. They could not go back, so they were trapped.

"Ohh great! Now we are stuck in here!" Luigi shouted. "Now what are we going to do..." He crossed his arms, frustrated. The heroes began to think of their next move when suddenly, the chair Luigi was sitting on began to float. Mario and Yoshi were shocked, but Luigi didn't seem to notice at all!

"Uhm...Luigi?" Yoshi called out to him. "I don't know how to say this but...you're chair is floating."

Luigi rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Yoshi, I find that hard to believe. And if my chair _was_ floating, I would have noticed already." It took him a moment to realize that his chair actually was floating in the air. Luigi slowly looked down, his eyes beginning to widen. He clenched the sides of the chair, quickly screaming in horror. "MAMAMIA! WHAT IS HAPPENING!"

Suddenly, at the bottom of Luigi's chair, two ghostly figures appeared. It was a pair of Boos! They began to laugh crazily and stuck their tongues out, taunting the heroes. "Gee! You three are so easy to scare!" one of the Boos said. "I was hoping for a little challenge in this!" The Boos lifted Luigi's chair higher into the air, while the plumber held on for his dear life. The two Boos then let go of the chair. It fell and crashed onto the floor, breaking the legs into pieces. Luigi was still holding onto the seat, still frightened.

"Hey! Stop scaring us like that!" Yoshi shouted at the Boos. He gave them an angry look, while the Boos continued to laugh at them. Yoshi growled and was about to attack when another Boo popped out in front of him, scaring the poor dinosaur. Yoshi yelped and jumped into Mario's arms. The plumber quickly dropped him onto the floor and took out his hammer. He recognized the Boo that just appeared. It's body was colored blue. It was actually Bloo!

"Heeheehee! You three are pathetic!" Bloo hissed at them. "At times I wonder why the _king_ even deals with you." He slowly floated around them, humming a rather creepy tone. He spun around and quickly shot a blue bolt of lightning at Mario. He quickly dodged it, jumping onto the table. Bloo suddenly laughed, not even impressed by the plumber's ability. "You're still not as Super as everyone says you are. You hop like a little rabbit!"

Bloo's body suddenly became covered with blue jolts electricity. Suddenly, all the Boos lunged at the heroes, ready to attack them! Mario and Yoshi prepared to battle, but Luigi crawled under the table, hiding from the Boos.

Mario quickly jumped out of the Boos way, landing back onto the floor. Yoshi tried to swallow the Boos, to no avail. His tongue could only pass through their ghostly bodies. The Boos began to chase Mario and Yoshi.

"Luigi! Do something!" Mario called out to him. They were running around the table, trying to avoid the Boos from attacking them. Luigi was huddling under the table, uncertain of what to do. If only he had his Poltergeist 3000 with him! He looked to the right of him and found a book lying beside him. Luigi took the book and slowly peeked out from under the table. He threw the book at the Boos, which ineffectively, only passed through them.

The Boos stopped chasing Mario and Yoshi began to laugh at Luigi's failed attempt. "Are you out of your mind, stupid plumber?" Bloo taunted at Luigi. "What kind of idiot would think a book could stop us Boos? Heeheehee!" The Boos continued to laugh. Luigi was embarrassed. The things that scared him the most was now laughing at him. He was ashamed of himself.

Luckily, when the book had hit the wall, it opened up a secret compartment. A square hole opened up in the wall. At first, it didn't seem like anything happened. But then, an object popped out of the hole. It appeared to be a mushroom, except it was all white, with a Boo-like face instead of the normal face mushrooms had. Mario instantly recognized the mushroom.

It was a Boo Mushroom!

While the Boos were still laughing, Mario quickly rushed to the power-up. He grabbed the mushroom. Right at the touch, he began to transform. His body floated in the air. He began to glow a bright white. He quickly changed into a form of a Boo! He retained his trademark hat and moustache. He was now Boo Mario!

The Boos turned around and stopped laughing. They took a good look at Boo Mario and suddenly they all became infatuated with him. Even Bloo! They began to giggle. "Oh my! Look at him! He's gorgeous!" one of the Boos whispered. "And his moustache makes him looks...sexy!" The Boos quickly floated to him, giving him compliments and charming looks. Yoshi and Luigi could only look with shock.

"This must be the most disturbing thing I've ever seen in my life..." Yoshi said to Luigi. The plumber slowly nodded.

Bloo was infatuated by Boo Mario's looks, but quickly remembered their job. "Wait...we are getting off track here! We must get back to our duty!" Bloo quickly turned to back to Luigi and Yoshi. Bloo covered himself with jolts of blue electricity yet again and charged a ball of electricity at them. The duo panicked. What were they going to do?

Suddenly, Luigi came up with something. He turned and looked up to the light bulb on the ceiling. Would his idea actually work?

Luigi turned to Yoshi. "Quick! Let me jump on your back and Flutter Jump towards the light bulb!" Yoshi did as he was told. He let Luigi climb onto his back. He jumped onto the table and Flutter Jumped towards the light bulb. Luigi jumped off of Yoshi and soared high into the air, grabbing onto the light bulb. He quickly called out to Bloo. "Hey! Over here!"

Bloo aimed at Luigi and shot the ball of electricity towards him. It flew through the air. Luigi quickly let go of the light bulb. The ball of electricity hit the light bulb, causing it to light up. A beam of light shone out of the light bulb and aimed itself at Bloo. The ghost began to scream in pain. "AUGH! THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!" Bloo suddenly disappeared out of thin air. The rest of the Boos panicked and fled out of the room, leaving the heroes alone in the library.

Boo Mario and Yoshi began to cheer. "Alright, Luigi! You did it!" They turned to Luigi, only to find him sitting against one of the library shelves. He seemed to be sulking. The two went up to him, wondering what was wrong.

"What are you doing Luigi?" asked Yoshi. "You just fended off the Boos! You should be celebrating!"

Luigi nodded at Yoshi and sighed. "I know I did, but...I'm ashamed of myself. Before all that, I was just cowering under a table, afraid. And the Boos laughed at me. Do you know how embarrasing that is?"

Boo Mario began to comfort Luigi. "But Luigi, you shouldn't worry about what they think. You shouldn't even be ashamed of yourself. You came up with the idea of using the light bulb to defeat the Boos. I would have never thought of the idea. That is real courage."

Luigi gave a gentle smile. "Thanks, bro." He soon turned to him, chuckling a bit. "So how was it when those Boos went gaga over you?" Boo Mario shook at the thought of that.

"I'm-a telling you, it's-a worse than getting scorched by Bowser's fire breath!"

The heroes laughed. They began to relax for a bit. The battle between the Boos was tiring. They began to recollect their thoughts. They needed to find Sonic and the others. But they still had no clue where to find them.

Suddenly, a voice began to boom in the library. It was the same voice from a while ago. It began to laugh once more. It was much more demonic than last time. "_Eeeheeeheeeheee! Seems like you were able to fend off my Boo gang, hmmm? Well, while you were busy with them, I happened to find a few of your friends lost in the basement. Now they're up here, enjoying the party! Eeeheeeheeeheee!" _

All of a sudden, the trio heard fighting in the attic of the mansion. It sound like Sonic and the others! They had to get into the attic. But how?

The library suddenly began shaking. The bookshelf that Luigi was sitting against began to rise into the ceiling. Behind it, was a secret stairway. The three cautiously looked up into it. They somehow knew that these stairs would lead them into the attic.

Luigi and Yoshi began to climb up the stairway, while Boo Mario floated up behind them. They were prepared to face whoever was behind this mansion chaos. The bookshelf behind rose down, sealing them from the library.

* * *

_**Mysterious Mansion, Attic Area**_

The attic was the largest room in the mansion. There were four unlit torches located at the corners of the room, which was used as a source of light. The attic was filled with piles and piles of jewellery. There were emeralds, rubies, sapphires, pearls, diamonds and even platinums. It all came from a familiar desert the heroes had been to before.

In the middle of the room, was Sonic, Tails and Amy standing back to back from each other. After they had fallen into the depth of the basement, they had woken up in the attic. Right now they were fighting an invisible force of the mansion. It could attack the three without being seen!

The invisible force cackled at them in a taunting manner. "_Eeeheehee! You can't attack what you can't see!" _The invisible force charged at them, knocking them all onto the floor. The three quickly got up, facing the direction of where the force had attacked them.

Sonic shook his head in disappointment. "Gee, I'm assuming whoever is attacking us is too_ afraid_ to even show his face!" He grinned at his remark. The invisible force gave out an annoyed grunt.

"_GAH! How dare that you call me a coward!" _the invisible force growled at them. "_Why, you're even lucky I'm going easy on you three creatures!"_

Tails tapped Sonic's shoulder. "Uhh...Sonic, I wouldn't try making whatever is attacking us mad." he warned. "Who knows what that thing can do. I mean, it can turn invisible!" Sonic wasn't worried the slightest. He knew they could handle this. If only they could actually see what they were handling.

The invisible force laughed at them once more. It was about to charge at them again when suddenly the door to the attic swung open. Luigi and Yoshi rushed into the room, along with Boo Mario who floated right behind them. Sonic and the others were relieved to see them. The invisible force had expected them.

"_Eeeheehee...so you finally arrive to the party," _the invisible force said. The three were confused. It was the same voice they heard throughout the masnion, but no one was there. Suddenly, the room became cold. A ghostly apparition appeared in the room. It formed into a familiar face. It was the one and only King Boo! He cackled at them. "I have to say, it took you three long enough!"

The heroes were surprised to see King Boo again. The last time they had seen him was back at the Hot Hot Desert in the Mummithwomp's Tomb. King Boo slowly circled around all of them, sticking his tongue out at them. It disturbed the heroes a little. "Well, now that everyone is here, I guess the party can finally begin!" King Boo gave out another loud cackle and turned invisible once again. The heroes panicked.

"He turned invisible again!" Amy shrieked. She took out her hammer, ready to pound King Boo.

Everyone else wondered the same thing. All expect for Boo Mario, who could still happen to see King Boo floating in the middle of the room. "What' are you guys talking about? He's right there!"

The others were confused. They looked to where Boo Mario was pointing, but saw nothing. "Wait a minute, are you saying you can still see King Boo?" Luigi asked his bother. Boo Mario nodded.

Tails came up with a theory. "I'm guessing that since Mario is a Boo, he is able to see any other Boo that turns invisible!" He soon realized that Mario was a Boo! "Wait, how did Mario turn into a Boo?" he asked surprisingly.

"No time for questions, Tails." Sonic said. "Now that Mario can see him, we can actually fight back!" He got into his battle position.

King Boo growled in frustration. "_Grrr! If any of you can actually see me, than what's the point of turning invisible?" _King Boo revered back into visible form. He gave a furious look at the heroes. "That's it. Now I'm going to obliterate you all with full-force!" King Boo suddenly puffed his cheeks and spat out a blue fireball at Sonic and the others. They dodged it, causing the fireball to disappear. King Boo turned to Luigi and Yoshi and fired another blue fireball at them. They also dodged it.

"Alright! It's time to attack!" Sonic called out. He quickly ran up to King Boo and initiated a Homing Attack at him. Unfortunately, he passed right through King Boo and landed near one of the torches.

King Boo laughed at his attempt. "Stupid hedgehog! Don't you remember I'm a ghost? Nothing can touch me! Eeeheehee!" He quickly spat out another blue fireball at Sonic. He quickly ducked, causing the fireball to fly past him and hit the torch. The torch suddenly lit up, emitting a bright light from the corner of the room. King Boo screamed in terror. He floated back from the light.

Luigi looked to his brother. "Bro! It looks like light also works on King Boo! You know what I'm thinking?" Boo Mario nodded at him. He quickly floated up to King Boo and gave stuck his tongue at him. This angered King Boo, causing him to shoot another blue fireball. Boo Mario quickly floated away from the fireball, making it fly at another torch, lighting it up, making the room brighter. King Boo cried in pain.

Tails and Amy quickly caught up to what Boo Mario and Luigi were doing. They both ran up to another torch and waved at King Boo. See they're gesture, he shot yet another fireball at them, hoping this time it would hit them. Unluckily for him, Tails and Amy jumped out of the fireballs way, lighting up the third torch. The room was brighter than before. King Boo huddled in the corner that had just a little bit of darkness in it. He was not finished.

Yoshi pointed to the last torch. "Quick! We have to light up the final torch!"

King Boo knew what they were doing. He refused to shoot another fireball. "You think I'll let you do this? No way!" He blocked the torch with his body so the heroes couldn't light it.

The heroes wondered what they would do. Suddenly, Luigi came up with a plan. He quickly whispered to Yoshi. He nodded to his plan,. Quickly, Yoshi spat his tongue at one of the lit up torches, swallowing part of the flame. He spit it back out, into Boo Mario's body. The flame stayed in his body, which surprised Boo Mario. Luigi pointed Boo Mario to the last torch. Knowing what Luigi was thinking, Boo Mario flew towards the torch. He passed through King Boo turning invisible. Boo Mario lit up the last torch, causing the whole room to be lit up.

King Boo screamed in pain. The light was one of his only weaknesses. King Boo slowly disappeared in thin air. Boo Mario also became caught in the light. He reverted back into regular Mario, causing him to fall into the piles of jewels. He slowly stood up, shaking off some of the jewels out of his pockets and hat.

Yoshi jumped in the air, cheering for their victory. "Woohoo! We did it!" He jumped in the air again and did a Flutter Jump, spinning at it's peak. The heroes joined him, victorious against the King Boo.

"I'm just lucky you guys showed up," Tails said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't really know what to do against King Boo."

"I think it's all thanks to Luigi's thinking," Sonic explained. "he was the one who came up with the tactics to defeat King Boo." Luigi grinned in embarrassment. He wasn't used to being praised, but when he did, he felt proud of himself.

Mario patted his brother's back. "See Luigi? I'm-a told you not to be ashamed of yourself. You come up with fantastic ideas! Yo really are a Mario Bro" The two smiled at each other. They each gave a high-five. Together, nothing could stop them.

"Well, we should get out of this mansion." Sonic said. He yawned. He was actually getting tired. He never gotten rest for the past few hours.

The heroes headed for the exit of the attic. Suddenly, before they reached it, something unexpected happened. A huge, dark hole appeared where the door was. It swirled furiously and began to suck up everything in the room. The jewels flew into the hole. The heroes held onto the floor as much as they could to avoid being sucked into the hole.

"What's happening!" Yoshi shouted. He was lying on his back, holding on the floor for his life.

Sonic, Tails and Amy quickly recognized the hole. It was the exact same hole that sucked them in back at Empire City. They knew that the shadow figure was behind this. But why? Suddenly, Luigi began to lose grip. He was panicking. He did all his best to hold on, but the force of hole became stronger. Luigi quickly lost grip and flew into the hole. He shouted to the heroes. "AAAAAAHHHHH!" The hole gave a bright flash of light when he entered it.

"NOOO!" Mario shouted, looking back into the hole. Luigi was gone.

The hole quickly disappeared. The heroes couldn't believe what had just happened. They just stayed there, dumbstruck. They couldn't even say a word. They looked around them, seeing all the treasure gone from the room. Before they could do anything else, they began to hear a soft chanting sound, like someone was singing a lullaby. The heroes began to feel sleepy. Before they knew it, they fell back on the floor, becoming unconscious. Before they lost consciousness, they heard a deep, evil laugh, followed by a familiar voice.

_"Sleep soundly, heroes. When the time is right, you will meet each other once again...only this time, you'll be afraid of him."_

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes are unconscious! And Luigi is gone! What will happen next for the heroes? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**_Author Notes: This chapter is complete! I had so much ideas for this chapter, but I had to remove them so this wouldn't be such a long read. Which was still was. This will be the last time you might see King Boo. Or is it? Hmm..._**

**_I used the Boo Mushroom here because, well it fit in the setting and was a key factor into defeating King Boo. Near the end of writing the chapter, I wanted Luigi to use the power-up, but I was already far into typing the chapter and didn't want to change so much of it. (I get tired, it happens to everyone)_**

**_The ending wasn't that surprising as it should be. You know why? Because that's not the whole surprise. What is the surprise? Eh, you'll see next chapter. I don't want to hype it that much._**

**_This chapter kind of focused on the relationship between Mario and Luigi. Mario is usually the braver one of the duo, but I wanted to show that Luigi could par up to his brother's courage with his brains. My idea is, Luigi IS a bit smarter, faster and can jump higher than his brother, the only problem is that his fear can sometimes overwhelm him, which may leave Mario to do all the action. What I'm trying to say is, Luigi is just as awesome as Mario. _**

**_Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Thanks for taking your time to read this and for supporting this story. I hope you enjoy your weekend and remember that next Saturday evening is a new chapter! Bye for now!_**

**_P.S. School is just about to start where I live, so I may not have enough time to finish upcoming chapters in time. So if a chapter isn't up on Saturday, please understand that I may have been busy doing school work and such. _**

**-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	32. The Minion!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 32: The Minion!_**

* * *

**_Boo Woods, Gadd's Garage_**

"_Ugghhh_...my head..." groaned Yoshi. He slowly sat up, dazed from the events last night. He looked around, finding himself in a small bedroom. It was quite empty inside, only having a small bed in the corner and a cabinet beside it, with a lamp on top. The walls and ceiling were painted all white.

Yoshi wasn't the only one in the room. The others were with him too, still unconscious. Amy and Tails were lying opposite of each other on the bed, Sonic was against the corner and Mario was lying on his stomach in the middle of the room. Yoshi was confused. Where were they exactly?

Just then. someone entered the bedroom. It was Professor E. Gadd! He greeted him brightly. "Good morning, Yoshi! How are you right now, old chap?"

"I'm fine," Yoshi answered. He suddenly heard his stomach grumble. He rubbed it. "a little hungry, but still fine." Gadd nodded to him. He reached into his pocket and took out an apple. He tossed it to Yoshi, who was surprised. "Gee, thadnks!" Yoshi quickly swallowed to apple, relieved to finally have something in his belly.

The rest of the heroes began to wake up. They all started to moan, also dazed from what happened last night. They slowly stood up from where they were, wondering where they were at.

Sonic began fixing his quells. "Man, why do I always seem to wake up with a big headache?" he complained. "Where are we anywhere?"

Gadd spoke to the heroes. "Relax now, you're fine." He let the heroes rest for awhile before explaining what had happened. First of all, he told them they were in Gadd's Bedroom, which explained the tiny bed. He told them that after they left for the mysterious mansion party, he began to worry about them. After searching through the woods for almost the whole night, he had found where the mansion was supposed to be, only to discover their bodies lying on the ground. He quickly took each body and dragged them back to his garage.

"Well, the good thing is that all of you are alright." Gadd said. He quickly remembered something. "...although, I would like to ask what happened to the body of Luigi. I could not find it near where I found you five. Did something happen to him?"

The heroes were speechless at first. They remembered the horrible thing that happened to him, but were still in shock to even speak about it. Mario soon spoke up, "He's gone..." his voice had a tone of sadness in it. He lowered his head.

Gadd was surprised by the news. "...I see. But how?" Tails explained what had happened to Luigi. Gadd slowly nodded, understanding the situation. "That is awfully tragic. How could a black hole ever appear there?" Gadd began to wonder. He suddenly heard the telephone rang. He left the room to answer it.

The rest turned to Mario, who was sitting in the middle of the room with a blank look on his face. He had just lost his older brother from a black hole. Who knew what would happen to him. Who knew where he was now. The rest of the heroes walked up to him and comforted him.

"Don't worry Mario," Amy said. She kneeled beside him."we'll help you find him. No matter what." Yoshi sat beside her and agreed with her. He nodded to Mario, assuring him that they would help find Luigi.

Tails was a bit suspicious. Sonic noticed him thinking about something. He went up to him. "Hey, what's on your mind buddy?" Tails explained to him black hole looked exactly like the one that sucked them in back at Empire City. Sonic raised his eyebrow at him, knowing what he was trying to refer to. "You don't mean..." Tails only nodded to him. Sonic crossed his arms. "I knew it! The shadow figure really _was _behind this! That monster!"

The other three looked back up to him, surprised from his temper. Sonic crouched down to Mario at eye level. "The shadow figure kidnapped your brother." Mario gave a shocked look. He couldn't believe the shadow figure would do something _that _despicible. He began to worry more about Luigi. What terror would he feel in the clutches of the shadow figure?

Gadd suddenly entered the room, holding a package in his hand. He got everyone's attention. "I had just received a call from the princess." Gadd explained. "She told me that her Lookout Toad had just spotted sign of another Power Star. The star had landed inside the vicinity Sherbet Mountains."

"Sherbet Mountains? What is that place?" Amy asked him. Gadd explained to them that Sherbet Mountains was a peaceful, snowy land that was mostly populated by friendly talking penguins.

"The princess also told me she sent a package that all of you would need on the journey." Gadd said. "Ironically, the package got here right when I hung up the telephone." He dropped the package in front of them. He pulled out a pair of scissors and cut of the tape sealing up the package. Inside was a bunch of clothing and a letter inside. Mario took out the letter and read it.

_"Dear Mario and Sonic,_

_"As Professor E. Gadd has told you, the next Power Star has landed in the frozen area of Sherbet Mountains. Due to the freezing temperatures that could occur there, I have enclosed a bundle of proper winter wear that will help keep you warm. May I tell you, I violent blizzard is about to happen at Sherbet Mountains. I advise you to make your search short and find the Power Star as quickly as you can. Please meet me at the castle so you may ride the Chop Chop Helicopter. Good luck on your journey and please stay safe."_

_"Sincerely, Princess Peach"_

The heroes looked inside the package. Looking closer, the clothing mostly consisted of various colored winter scarves, mittens, toques, earmuffs and vests. The heroes picked out there clothing and put them on.

Mario wrapped his neck with a warm red scarf. Yoshi wore matching light green scarf and mittens that would keep his hands from the cold. Sonic fitted himself with a blue scarf. Since he didn't have much fur as Tails or clothes as Amy, he also wore a blue winter vest. Tails put on an orange scarf and orange toque. The toque had a small brim on the front. Amy wore a pink scarf and pink earmuffs.

"Heh, I think this is the most clothing I've worn since, ever!" Sonic commented. He made sure his winter vest was zipped all the way.

Yoshi scratched his head. "Wait, this is the most clothing you've worn? Then does that mean you've run around most of the time naked?" Tails tapped Yoshi's shoulder and told him that Yoshi was just as naked as Sonic before. Yoshi realized that and felt embarrassed.

Amy peeked inside the box to see if there was anything left. "Hey, there's still some clothes in here." She reached inside it and took out a green scarf. Mario looked at it, instantly knowing who it was meant to be for.

"I'll take that." Mario said and took the scarf from Amy. He looked at the scarf for awhile. The color reminded him of his brother. He wanted to search for Luigi himself, but they needed to retrieve the Power Star before the blizzard begins in Sherbet Mountains.

"Well, now that you are all bundled up, it is time for you to head to Sherbet Mountains." Gadd said to them. The heroes soon left the garage and headed back to the castle where Peach would be waiting for them.

* * *

_**Bowser's Castle, Laboratory Room**_

It was becoming extremely hot inside Bowser's Castle. Of course, it _was _located in the middle of a gigantic volcano. The members of the Koopa Troop were roaming around the castle. Whenever they weren't on duty, they liked to take breaks and try to enjoy themselves.

Right now, inside the castle's laboratory, Eggman was busy working on his and Bowser's "doomsday" machine. He had made great progress and was already half done the machine. The machine stood tall in the laboratory. It was covered by a large, beige blanket. Eggman was under the blanket and standing on a ladder, continuing on the doomsday machine.

Bowser suddenly entered the laboratory and was amazed by Eggman's progress. He walked up to the covered machine, dumbstruck by it's immense size. "Hey, Eggman! Mind if I see your progress?" Bowser roared at him.

Eggman was so surprised by Bowser's sudden entrance that he lost balance and fell off the ladder. He slowly crawled out of the blanket, holding a large wrench in his hand. Still on the floor, he looked up to Bowser with an annoyed look. "Must you suddenly barge in and distract me from my work?"

Bowser simply shrugged at him. He wanted to see how the machine was turning out. "Come on, show me the machine!"

He helped Eggman back up and they both walked up towards the machine. Eggman lifted up one of the blankets sides and allowed Bowser to peek under it. Bowser was amazed by the structure and design of the machine. He laughed out in glee, excited to use the machine against the heroes. "Bwahaha! This is great! Once this machine is complete, the Mario Bros and their furry little animal friends will _never _stand a chance against us!"

"Yes, you've told me that about a hundred times, I get it..." Eggman said in a bored tone. He laid the wrench he was holding onto the workbench beside him and headed for the laboratory door. Bowser noticed this and called out to him.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Bowser pointed to the unfinished doomsday machine. "You have a contraption to finish!" Eggman patted his belly, signalling him that he was getting a quick snack. Bowser rolled his eyes at him in annoyance. "Fine, go ahead. But be quick, you've got a machine to finish!"

Eggman exited the laboratory room and turned right in the hallway. The castle's kitchen was on the first floor. He went down through a flight of spiral stairs until he happened to pass by Junior, who was walking up the stairway. Eggman noticed him carrying something in his hand. It seemed to be something purple.

"What seems to be in your hand, Junior?" Eggman asked him. Junior stopped in his tracks, afraid that he had seen what he was holding.

Junior quickly put the Purple Chaos Emerald into his pocket, then showed Eggman his empty hands. "Uhm...what are you talking about, Mr. Eggman? He tried his best to convince Eggma, but the doctor was sure he held something.

"...you're lying." Eggman said to him in an intimidating tone. He pointed to his pocket. "If you don't have anything, then may I see if your pockets are empty. Or else I may tell your father that you are lying..."

Junior gave a shocked look. He couldn't dare to let his papa know what he had. Eggman waited patiently for him to show the contents of his pockets. Junior slowly reached into his pockets, with a nervous shake to his hand. Taking the object out, he showed it to Eggman.

"What the-" Eggman was confused. He carefully inspected the object in Junior's hand. It was a bagel. "But...I was sure I saw something else!"

"You probably have bad eyes." Junior said to him with a snicker. Eggman gave an irritating stare at him. He then asked the koopaling if he could have his bagel. Junior handed it to him and he took a nibble out of it.

"I'm watching you, Junior..." Eggman said to him. He turned around and climbed back up the stairs, returning to the laboratory to finish the doomsday machine. Junior let out a relieved sigh. He reached back into his pocket and took out the Purple Chaos Emerald. He couldn't allow anyone to know what he had. It could jeopardize the plan he had with the shadow figure.

"Good thing I was hungry this morning." Junior snickered to himself. He put the Purple Chaos Emerald back into his pocket and headed back downstairs to get another bagel.

* * *

_**Sherbet Mountain, Snowflake Village**_

It was a cheerful morning in Sherbet Mountain. It was located somewhere in the north of Mushroom Kingdom. The area was covered in a white blanket of snow that glistened in the sunlight. There were forests of evergreen trees that had snow on their leaves. Mountains that rose high into the sky made up most of the area.

Near the base of one of the mountains, was a village. It had a sort of Christmas-vibe to it. There were buildings that resembled ski-lodges. Different colored lights hung on the buildings that were lit up at night. There were shops, houses, churches and libraries for tourists. In the middle of the village was a frozen fountain. Beside it was a humongous evergreen tree that had a twinkling star on the top. It seemed like Christmas happened there everyday.

The entrance had a huge sign with a penguin waving. It said "Welcome to Snowflake Village! The happiest, cheeriest place in the kingdom!" Above the sign, a familiar red helicopter was floating. It landed itself in front of the sign. The blades began to slow down when the engine was turned off. The heroes climbed out of the helicopter, instantly feeling the cold air.

"Brr! It really is cold out here!" Yoshi exclaimed. He held himself and shivered a bit. Luckily they had their warm winter clothing Princess Peach had given to them.

The heroes looked around them, amazed by the beautiful scenery they were surrounded in. They headed into Snowflake Village, deciding to look around before they begin searching for the Power Star.

The village was packed with people walking around, going from place to place. There were friendly Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Toads, Shy Guys and Penguins. There was so much life in the village.

"This place sure looks a bit festive." Sonic said to the others. He was wondering if it was actually Christmas in the Mushroom Kingdom. Just then, a snowball was thrown and it hit him square in the face. Sonic fell backwards into the snow. He quickly shook the snow off and looked around him. "Hey! Who threw that snowball?"

In front of them were three Toad children who were laughing at them. They quickly ran off somewhere in the village. Sonic wanted to give chase at them, but Amy stopped him before he could.

"Sonic just ignore them," Amy told him. She grabbed his shoulder."We have to find the Power Star before the blizzard comes, remember?" Sonic quickly calmed down and nodded her. The heroes continued along through the village until they reached the fountain area.

You know being in this village, I suddenly feel so joyful!" Tails exclaimed. He felt happy and grinned. "Don't you feel joyful too, Mario?" He turned to Mario, who was looking at the spare green scarf in his hand. Tails grin disappeared. "Oh right, sorry..."

The heroes wondered where they would star looking for the Power Star when suddenly they heard someone sobbing out loud. On the other side of the fountain was a mother penguin. She was blue and much taller than the child penguin. She wore a white scarf around her neck. She seemed to be sobbing real hard, so the heroes decided to check on her.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Amy said, trying to comfort her. The mother penguin seemed to sob louder and louder. The heroes waited until she stopped crying. She soon began to explain what happened.

"I lost my baby!" the mother penguin cried out. She flopped onto the ground and started crying again. "My one and only child is gone! I am the _worst_ mother ever!"

The heroes felt sad for them, especially Mario during his situation. He put the spare green scarf in his pocket and began comforting the penguin mother. "Don't cry. I'm-a know how you feel." He paused for a moment, having an idea. "We'll help you find your baby."

"But Mario! What about the Power Star?" Yoshi reminded him. Mario explained to him that he _had_ to help this mother penguin. He didn't want anyone else to lose someone they cared about.

"Mario is right," Sonic said, turning towards the others. "This mother penguin is practically begging for help. We can't just leave her." The others seemed to agree with him. "And besides. How hard can it be to find a baby penguin?" He turned to the mother penguin" Where do you think they wandered off to?"

The mother penguin pointed behind her. She was pointing into the mountains. "I think she might have gone up into the mountains like she always does," The heroes were dumbstruck by how a little baby penguin could have gotten themselves far into the mountains. "you just have to pass through Evergreen Forest, wander through the Icicle Caverns and climb up the frozen peak."

"...what?" Yoshi said with a confused tone. The others were confused as well. Yoshi scratched his head. "Uhm...I think I'm not the only one who was hoping this would be easy."

The mother penguin slowly sat up, wiping away the tears that were still on her cheek. "Well, if you want it to be worth your while, I _can _give you this," she reached into her pockets and pulled out a golden shining object. The heroes couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"A Power Star!" Sonic exclaimed. "Where did you find that?" The mother penguin explained that she heard a loud crash in her backyard last night. The Power Star had landed into her homemade ice sculpture of a snowflake. She was devastated at first, but decided to keep the star. Sonic soon gave her a thumbs-up."You've got a deal!"

The mother penguin cheered. She hugged all of the heroes. "Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She couldn't wait to be reunited with her baby penguin. "Just to remind you, my baby may have wandered off into _that_ mountain over there!" She pointed to the mountain closest to the village. It was still seemed like a far walk away from them.

"Alright...let's-a go." Mario said. He led the others to their destination. The mother penguin waved goodbye to them. The heroes were finally off into their next  
adventure. But they were on a tight deadline. The blizzard that was supposed to hit Sherbet Mountains was not too far away. They had to hurry to find the Power Star and get back to Snowflake Village.

Could they make it?

* * *

_**Unknown Tropical Jungle**_

Somewhere else, there was a green tropical jungle located on an island. The grass was lush and there were numerous palm trees in the area. There were waterfalls that flowed around throughout the jungle.

It was nightfall in the jungle and there was a certain green plumber lying on a rock. He slowly came to conscious and sat up with a huge headache. He moaned loudly and rubbed his back head. "Oohhhh...where am I?" He began to look around, trying to figure out where he was. He called out for someone. "Hello! Anyone there?

No answer.

Luigi was confused. Where exactly was he? He tried to remember what had happened the last time he was conscious. _I was with the others and then some giant black hole appeared. And I got sucked in!_

"Gee...I hope the others aren't worrying about me." Luigi said to himself. He looked around the tropical jungle yet again. It seemed to give him the creeps being all alone at night. "I better find someone quickly.: He began to walk around the jungle, admiring the environment. "Gee, this place sure seems peaceful. I just wonder where this place was."

Suddenly, he heard a ruffle in the bushes. Luigi jumped in shock and quickly turned around. A few feet away from him was a bush shaking. Luigi wondered what is was, but was too scared to check. He inched a bit closer to it when a figure popped out of it and began floating in front of him. It was the shadow figure!

Luigi shrieked. "Gaaah! It's-a you!" The plumber tried to run away, but the shadow figure struck a magic spell on him, freezing him in place. The shadow figure floated in front of him, staring him with it's intimidating glowing yellow eyes.

"_You...are a coward..." _the shadow figure said to him. It sounded demonic as usual, but this time it felt more menacing. "_But you...are also one of them...so I need you." _The shadow figure's paintbrush suddenly appeared in it's hand. The shadow figure unfroze Luigi and knocked him onto the ground with it's paintbrush. It pointed it towards Luigi and shot a red magic spell at his body. At first, Luigi felt nothing, but suddenly a terrible surge of pain ran through Luigi's body.

"GGGAAAAAHAHHHHH!" Luigi screamed in agony. He began to flail about on the ground, trying to resist the pain. But it just made it worse. It felt like sharp blades had been sliced through his body and they were being rotated inside to make it worse. "Please...make it STOP!"

Luigi continued to yell from the pain. He was on the verge of crying. It was _that _bad. The shadow figure was amused by this. "It hurts, doesn't it? Everytime you try to resist it, the pain becomes stronger. You'll be wishing you were dead." Luigi could only scream. The shadow figure began to laugh at him. "Hahaha! You pathetic being! I've been watching you. You're cowardice is just the perfect thing I need so that you won't ever _dare_ disobey me when you become...my _minion!"_

Luigi was still screaming, but he still had the courage to say one thing to the shadow figure. He looked up to it with a fierce look. "...I'll...never work for you...you MONSTER!"

The shadow figure was surprised by what Luigi said. It also made him mad. He quickly pointed it's paintbrush at Luigi and shot another spell at him. When the spell hit, it gave out a bright flash. The flash quickly faded. The shadow figure looked to what happened to Luigi.

Luigi just lied there, except he looked different. The spell that shadow figure used had transformed him into a robot! It looked exactly like Luigi, only more robotic-like and his whole body was made of steel. Luigi's arms and legs were replaced by green and blue robotic limbs, respectively. His hands were replaced by white cannons. His feet were replaced by brown boosters that would help him fly. Luigi's head was more robotic-like. The color of his face was silver and his moustache seemed more sharper and black. His eyes were replaced by blue robot eyes. His hat was more sleeker and it was where the power source was. His torso was blue and steel like.

Since Robo-Luigi had no power source in him, he couldn't move at all. The shadow figure walked up to him, impressed by his work. "_So...it looks like my spell has worked Now this pathetic fool is my minion!_" The shadow figure kneeled down and removed the metal had off Robo-Luigi's head. Under it was the power source. It needed some type of energy. The shadow figure knew what to do.

He held his hand in the air and suddenly the Blue Chaos Emerald appeared in it. He placed it into the power source and put the metal hat back on. Robo-Luigi began to turn on. His eyes lit up. Robo-Luigi slowly stood up in a robotic manner, with pausing between each motion. Robo-Luigi looked at the shadow figure and spoke with a robot voice, with a tone of Luigi's actual voice. "WHAT IS YOUR COMMAND MASTER?"

The shadow figure nodded to Robo-Luigi. _"Yes...I am your master."_ The shadow figure pointed his painbrush behind him and twirled the front of it once. Suddenly, a dark hole appeared behind him. It swirled viciously, making gurgling noises. _"I want you to bring Sonic and his friends. And make sure that they are alive." _It pointed into the hole. Robo-Luigi's boosters started up. He quickly flew into the black hoel, causing a flash to emit from it. The dark hole quickly disappeared.

The shadow figure just stood there for a moment. It clenched it's fist in the air. Now that it had found four of the star children and turned one of them into his minions, he needed to find the last three. But before he could, he needed to find the "gift" that he would need for his plan.

"_Without it, this plan will all be wasted..."_ the shadow figure quickly flew into the air and headed to a familiar-looking place. The "gift" was guarded by someone. Someone he despised as much as the heroes.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_Oh no! The shadow figure has turned Luigi into a robot and has commanded him to catch the heroes! What could possibly happen to the heroes now? And will they be able to find the baby penguin in order to recieve their next Power Star? Also, will Eggman be able to complete the doomsday machine for Bowser and him? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**_Author Notes: Chapter complete! This one felt really long to finish. So many things have happened in this chapter that it's to to keep track of what's happening._**

**_I thought it was appropriate to add Bowser and Eggman since we had never seen the both of them ever since the "High Seas" chapter. That's like about seven chapters from this one!_**

**_Instead of finding the Power Star, the heroes are forced to do an errand in order to get their Power Star. I thought that would be nice to try something different. It kind of get repetitive for the heroes to try and actually find the Power Star itself. Also, the mother penguin losing her baby is a homage to the "Li'l Penguin Lost" mission in Cool, Cool Mountain on Super Mario. (btw, I found it funny as a kid to throw the baby penguin off the ledge. idk why.)_**

**_The biggest surprise in this chapter is that the shadow figure turned Luigi into a robot! Now instead of the shadow figure trying to kill the heroes, Luigi is commanded to capture them. Interesting twist, right? (and some of you thought I was going to make him Mr. L.) I wonder what that tells us about the shadow figure, hmm?_**

**_And I've also been asked if any other Sonic characters will appear. Yes._**

**_I've also been getting support from others since I've been in the situation of someone plagiarising me. I just want to say thanks to all who have told me about this person and have been on my side ever since. It's kind of a shame to kn ow people like him are like this. _**

**_If you want to know more information about him, please message me. I'll be happy to tell you what interesting things he's said to me and a few of his antics he's been doing. :)_**

**_Or you can look at my profile. You can do either one. Bye for now!_**

**-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	33. Cold Encounter!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 33: Cold Encounter!**_

* * *

_**Sherbet Mountains, Evergreen Forest**_

"Brrrr! I'm so cold!" Yoshi whined. He was hugging himself, shaking from the cold. The heroes had already left Snowflake Village and were venturing through Evergreen Forest. The trees were evergreen and the leaves were covered with snow. It seemed really peacful in the forest. All you could hear was the gentle breeze of the wind and the crunching noise of the heroes feet stepping through the snow. The heroes were on a search to find a baby penguin that got itself lost from it's mother, They had to hurry as a blizzard was about to hit the area.

Sonic was scratching his head, thinking how a baby penguin could possibly leave it's mother and climb up a tall mountain all by itself. "I've got to tell you, this penguin we're finding must have amazing climbing skills to climb a mountain by it's lonesome."

"I'm surprised the baby penguin even got this far in a short amount of time," Tails added. "although, he could've slid on his belly the whole way up. Penguins are known to do that." Still, Tails thought it was incredible the baby penguin could do such a tremendous feat.

Amy suddenly went up to Sonic and put her head onto his shoulder, trying to cuddle with him. "You know Sonic, it's quiet cold outside. We could cuddle with each other while we walk to keep ourselves warm." She winked at him, but Sonic simply shook his head. Amy gave him an annoyed look and went back to walking by herself. Yoshi went up to her and asked if he could cuddle with her to keep himself warm, but Amy declined him.

"Here Yoshi," Mario called to him. He went up to the dinosaur and wrapped the spare green scarf around his neck, making him feel much warmer. "You need this right now more than me." He looked at the green scarf for awhile, still saddened his brother was still missing. But he knew, deep down inside him, Luigi was alright. He had the courage and willpower just like Mario to be able to take care of himself.

"Gee, thanks Mario." Yoshi said. He felt the green scarf, which also reminded him of Luigi. He gave Mario a trustworthy look. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of it."

The heroes continued walking through Evergreen Forest until they came upon a huge frozen lake. They walked up to it, seeing the freezing water flow under the thick layer of ice. Amy carefully stepped on the ice, wondering if it was walkable. She took another step on the ice. It didn't seem to show signs of cracking, so she began skating on the ice. She was a skilled figure skater, so she started doing spins and jumps while skating. The others were impressed. She invited the others to join. "Come on, it's fun!"

At first they were reluctant. Mario was the first one to step on the ice. He was also a pretty good skater, so he began skating around the lake, even skating backwards. Yoshi and Tails joined them, carefully balancing on the ice. They both lost balance and fell down together. They quickly laughed it off and helped each other up. Sonic tried to run on the ice, but it was so slippery that he began running in place. He lost balance and landed on his back. He groaned in frustration until Amy skated up to him.

"Need a little help?" Amy offered, holding her hand out to him. Sonic gave her a small grin and grabbed her hand, standing up from the ice. He kept holding her hand to keep balance. Amy helped him skate around the lake. "The key to skating is to use your arms to balance and to bend your knees a little."

Sonic did what she told him and began to skate better. "Hey, it's actually working." He turned to her. "You know, you're a pretty good teacher." They both smiled at each other and began skating around with the others. The heroes decided to stay there for awhile.

Unaware to them, something was watching them from behind the trees. He had intentions on capturing them. He was commanded by his master and didn't dare to oppose him. "MUST CAPTURE HEROES." said Robo-Luigi. He quickly aimted one of his cannons at Yoshi and Tails. He charged up energy and shot out a green beam out of his cannon. The beam went through the air at lightning speed and hit part of the ice, barely missing his target. The beam made a hole from where it hit. The heroes were surprised by the sudden attack.

"What was that?" Yoshi shouted aloud. He looked down the hole in the ice, seeing the freezing water flowing. The heroes looked to where the beam had come from. They gasped, seeing their attacker floating in the air, his cannons aiming directly at them.

"MUST CAPTURE HEROES!" Robo-Luigi spoke. The heroes stared at their mysterious attacker in shock. The robot looked familiar. It looked like someone they knew. They recognized the robot because of it's green hat and the familiar metallic "L" on it.

"That robot looks like Luigi!" Sonic shouted out, pointing at the robot. The Robo-Luigi heard Sonic and pointed it's cannons at him. He quickly shot two energy beams at him. Sonic jumped out of the way, carrying Amy along with him. The two cannons made a large hole in the ice.

"MUST CAPTURE HEROES." Robo-Luigi said once again. He turned his cannons towards Yoshi and Tails and fired energy beams into their directions. Tails carried both of them into the air, dodging the attacks. Robo-Luigi began firing furiously at them, determined to hit them. Tails and Yoshi struggled to avoid the attacks, only dodging them by a few inches.

Mario skated near where Robo-Luigi was floating and shouted at him. "Hey! You! Stop attacking my-a friends!" Robo-Luigi quickly turned to Mario and aimed his cannons at him. He had his energy charged up, but surprisingly he hesitated. There was this feeling inside the Robo-Luigi that couldn't cause him to do harm to Mario. A sympathetic voice spoke into Robo-Luigi's mind.

_"...Mario?"_

Suddenly, a shadowy bolts covered Robo-Luigi, damaging him. Robo-Luigi gave out a loud scream and fell onto the frozen lake, causing a big crack to appear around him. The heroes were surprised by this. A familiar, menacing voice echoed into Robo-Luigi's head.

"_You...must do...what I command you to do..." _

Robo Luigi slowly stood up on the ice. His eyes changed from blue lights to red lights. He aimed his cannons directly at Mario's chest. "MUST CAPTURE HEROES." He fired his cannons, making a large energy beam shoot towards Mario, knocking him back on the ice. The plumber fell backwards and slid on the ice at tremendous speeds. He crashed into a large snow pile that was made at the other end of the frozen lake. He was dazed from the attack.

"We've got to escape from this robot!" Sonic shouted to the others. All of them quickly rushed to the other side of the frozen lake, where Mario was. Robo-Luigi was not going to let them get away. He began firing a barrage of multiple energy shots at them. The energy shots missed them, shooting into the ice and making multiple holes.

The ice began to crumble under their feet. The heroes had to hurry before it would break and cause them to get captured by the Robo-Luigi. The robot flew into the air and chased after the heroes.

The heroes jumped off the frozen lake, helping Mario onto Yoshi's back. The whole frozen lake quickly broke into smaller ice pieces. The heroes ran back into Evergreen forest, hoping to escape from Robo-Luigi. The robot was close on their tail. He followed them into the forest and began shooting lasers at the heroes feet with his eye sockets. The heroes jumped to avoid the laser attacks.

"Got any ideas, Sonic?" Tails yelled to him. Sonic thought for a moment, then came up with an idea. He sped up and ran forward from the others. He climbed into one of the evergreen trees and found a large branch that he could easily bend. Sonic bent the large branch back. He waited for the others to pass by him. Once Robo-Luigi was about to pass the tree he was in, Sonic let go of the branch. It whipped forward at high speed and knocked Robo-Luigi, causing him to soar backwards and crash into another evergreen tree.

"Gotcha!" Sonic exclaimed. He jumped down from the evergreen tree and caught up to the others. He found them near the base of one of Sherbet's Mountains. It was the same, tall mountain that the mother penguin told them her baby penguin climbed up. In front of them on the base of the mountain was a large, icicle cavern entrance. It was very blue inside the cavern.

"We should rest inside here for awhile." Amy suggested. The others agreed. They entered the ominous cavern, not knowing what would happen next. Once they entered the icicle cavern, the weather started to dramatically change. The clear, blue sky was beginning to get covered by white, blizzard clouds. A blizzard was about to hit the region.

The heroes didn't have much time left.

* * *

**_Sherbet Mountains, Inside the Icicle Caverns_**

The heroes were walking through the icicle caverns in one of the mountains. The entire cavern was made up of glistening ice. There were huge icicles that stuck from both the ceiling and floor. It was still cold inside the cave. The heroes felt calm inside the cavern after their encounter with the Robo-Luigi. The just couldn't believe the awful resemblance the robot had with Luigi.

"I'm starting to wonder if that robot really was Luigi." Tails spoke. He as rubbing his chin, still having the image of Robo-Luigi staring at them with his menacing robot eyes. The fox turned to Mario, who was still riding on Yoshi's back, recovering from the energy beam attack. "What do you think, Mario?"

Mario thought for a moment. He remembered when the robot aimed his cannons at him, but hesitated to shoot at him. Mario slowly nodded to Tails. "There is no doubt about it. That robot _has_ to be Luigi." Mario was sickened to think that the shadow figure turned his own brother into a robot slave. But at the same time, he was quite glad to know his brother was still alive, in a way.

"Well, now that we know Luigi is okay, we just have to find out how to convince him to stop attacking us and turn him good again." Sonic explained to them. He thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure he has a POWER switch somewhere on his body that could help us."

Amy reminded him. "But even then if we are able turn him off, how are we going to find a way to turn him back into a human being?"

Sonic shrugged to her. "Maybe Gadd has some sort of _Human-Transmorphication _machine that can turn Luigi back into a human." He gave her a joking grin. Amy slapped him on the shoulder, telling him to be serious for once. Sonic simply rolled his eyes at her. "Anyways, right now our objective is to find the baby penguin. All we have to do is find our way through this cave and up to the summit of the mountain. Hopefully that won't take long."

The heroes continued walking through the icicle cavern. They suddenly came up to a split in the cave. They had to choose to either go left or right. The heroes were a little frustrated at this decision.

"Great...this'll make things easier..." Yoshi said in a sarcastic tone. He slowly walked him and Mario up to the cavern on their left. He looked deeply into the cavern and pointed inside it. "My Yoshi-instincts are telling me this way is the right way."

Tails walked up to the right cavern, pretty sure it was the correct way to the summit of the mountain. "I say we go this way." Yoshi shook his head in disagreement. Tails kept telling him his way was right, but Yoshi continued to deny him, saying his "Yoshi-instincts" are telling him that _his _way was right. The two began to argue on who was right. Mario, Sonic and Amy were annoyed to hear them rambling at each other.

"Oh yeah? How do _you_ know you're correct? You're just a fox!"

"I happen to be super smart at _my _age! And besides, you can't be sure to know where to go based on a hunch..."

"Yeah? Well, it's _not _a hunch! It's my Yoshi-instinct! You wouldn't know how it works since _you _aren't a Yoshi."

Sonic couldn't bear to listen to this arguement. "Hey, I have an idea. Yoshi and Tails quickly stopped arguing and began to listen. "Why don't we split up? At least one of us will end up at the summit of the mountain. The others can just go back and take the correct route if their's lead to a dead end." Yoshi and Tails thought about the idea and agreed to it. But they would only be taking the route they thought was correct.

In other words, Yoshi entered the left cavern along with Mario and Tails went into the right cavern, along with Sonic and Amy.

* * *

Mario and Yoshi walked slowly through the cavern of the mountain. This cave was a wider and had more space to walk around than the other path. During that time, Yoshi was still grumbling on how Tails could disagree with his choice.

"I can't believe he couldn't agree with me," Yoshi said in an angry tone. Mario wasn't willing to speak about Yoshi's problem, so he only nodded and pretended to listen to Yoshi's constant rambling about Tails. "it makes me so mad at him! And to think we were friends. Pffft!"

Yoshi was about to argue once more when suddenly they heard what seemed to be something sliding on the ice. The noise was quiet at first, but slowly began to become louder. Suddenly, something slid past them from behind. It was a a blue penguin, only it was wearing black shades and had a bigger bill. It was a Cooligan. At first, Mario and Yoshi ignored it. All of a sudden, a whole pack of Cooligans slid by them. This caught the two by surprise and knocked Yoshi off his feet. Mario fell off him and slid on the ground, being bumped by the Cooligans.

The group of Cooligans seemed to ignore them, leaving the two dazed from the sudden "attack". They slowly stood up and quickly shook it off. "Well, that was weird." Yoshi said to Mario. "Come on, let's follow them." The two rushed through the ice cavern, finding themselves in a humongous room of the cavern. In front of them, was a huge icy slide that was right above a very dark and deep trench. The slide consisted of tight turns and gaps you had to jump over. Mario and Yoshi watched as the Cooligans slid on the ice slide, speeding through it and reaching the other side of the large room.

"Wow! This looks fun!" Yoshi exclaimed. He looked down the dark trench and gulped. "But it also looks dangerous." He turned to Mario. "How are we going to pass this?"

Mario thought for a moment and quickly came up with a plan. He reached into his pocket and took out a power-up. It was the Penguin Suit! Yoshi was surprised and asked Mario where he had found it. "Well, remember when I crashed into the pile of snow back at the frozen lake? I found this buried under it and decided to keep it." Yoshi nodded and told him to use the power-up. Mario put on the Penguin Suit, becoming Penguin Mario! He was in a blue penguin suit and wore red overalls over the suit.

Penguin Mario waddled to the start of the icy slide. He lied himself on his stomach. Yoshi sat on top of him. "Gee, this is kind of ironic." Yoshi commented. "I never thought that you would be carrying me!" Mario told him to hang on tightly. They were about to take a dangerous slide on the ice.

"Alright! Let's-a go!" Mario exclaimed. He jerked himself forward onto the icy slide and soon the two were speeding on the slide! They carefully made the sharp turns on the slide and jumped over the gaps on the slide. They passed by a few Cooligans, who were shocked to see them. It was such a thrill ride for Yoshi. He shouted in joy as they slid on the icy slide.

The two eventually finished the icy slide, but were still sliding on the floor of the ice cavern. They continued sliding through the cavern until they reached an opening. The two found themselves sliding outside on the side of the mountain. It was beginning to snow outside. Penguin Mario was still sliding. He looked in front of them and saw that they were about to slide off the cliff of the mountain. He tried to stop, but they were sliding so fast he couldn't do anything. Just as they were about to slide off, Yoshi quickly dug his deep into the snow, stopping them right near the edge of the mountain.

"Phew...thanks Yoshi." Penguin Mario thanked him. Yoshi got off him and help him up. They looked down the cliff and saw Evergreen Forest below them. Since theyh were so high on the mountain, it looked so small from their view. The two looked up the mountain, seeing the cavern the had just exited. They knew what to do. They had to start climbing up to the summit, hoping to find the baby penguin. They began their climb to the top.

The blizzard was about to roll into the Sherbet Mountain region. The snow was starting to fall harder and faster. They needed to hurry if they wanted to find the baby penguin and get back to Snowflake Mountain safely.

* * *

"Well would you look at that," Sonic said to his friends "We've seemed to reach a dead end!"

In front of the trio, was a dead end to the cavern they were in. The only thing there was a bunch of icicles. Sonic and Amy turned to Tails, who had an embarrassed look on his face.

"Uhm...hehe...I guess I was wrong..." Tails confessed. He had his hand on the back of his head. He looked down, realizing that Yoshi _was_ right. "Gee, so I guess I have to apologize to him." Sonic and Amy nodded to him.

"Come on, we have to catch up to the others." Amy said. She began walking back when suddenly the cavern shook. The heroes knew there was never a good sign if the room they were in started to shake. They didn't bother waiting to see what would happen and quickly rushed their way back to the split in the cavern. Just as they reached the split, something crashed out of the ground, knocking back the three onto the floor.

"MUST CAPTURE HEROES." Robo-Luigi said to them in his robotic voice. He was covered in snow, but quickly shook it off him. He floated back onto the ground and walked towards the trio, aiming his cannons at them.

"Luigi! Please! It's us!" Tails tried to convince him. He knew that even though Luigi was now the robotic slave of the shadow figure, his mind was still in there. Robo-Luigi started to hesitate yet again. He began to remember his friends.

_"...Tails...Amy...Sonic?"_

Robo-Luigi began to lower his cannons. But suddenly he was shocked by the same shadowy bolts that began to cover his body. Robo-Luigi screamed in agony. The voice of the shadow figure echoed in his head again.

"_You will finish your deed...shoot the heroes...and bring them to me..."_

Robo-Luigi continued to take damage from the shadowy bolts. The jolts suddenly stopped, causing Robo-Luigi to lie on the ground momentarily. The heroes thought he was shut off, but suddenly Robo-Luigi floated back into the air, staring back at them with his robotic eyes. He aimed his cannons at them, speaking the same sentence once again. "MUST CAPTURE HEROES."

The three braced themselves for the incoming energy beam attack. Before it happened, Sonic noticed a Question Block floating in the air right above them. Thinking quickly, he spin dashed on the ground, jumped and did a Homing Attack on Robo-Luigi and knocked him back onto the ground.. He pointed to the Question Block in the air. "Someone open it!"

Tails quickly got up and bashed open the Question Block. He was hoping for a Fire Flower, but instead, got something different. It _looked _like a Fire Flower, except it's tulips were a light-blue color. He grabbed the power-up, but nothing happened. "I can't use it." He suddenly remembered the Fire Flower mark on his hand. "Sonic, I can't use this because it's _not _a Fire Flower."

Sonic was confused. It looked like a Fire Flower. He heard Robo-Luigi slowly getting up. He turned around, preparing to fight him. Suddenly, Amy called to Tails. "Quick! Throw it to me!"

Tails threw the power-up to Amy. She caught in in her hands. The power-up glowed in her hands and suddenly disappeared. Amy had absorbed the energy of it. She felt a small tingle around her body. Suddenly, her clothes began to flash. Her cherry red dress suddenly swapped to a baby blue color. The same thing happened to her boots Amy felt a freezing sensation come in contact with her body.

Amy was now Ice Amy!

"Whoa! Amy! You look different!" Tails exclaimed to her. Sonic turned back to see what Tails was talking about and gave a surprised look at Amy. Her clothes were different.

Robo-Luigi was now on his feet. He aimed his cannons back to the heroes, charging them up. His robotic eyes started flashing in red lights. "MUST CAPTURE HEROES."

Ice Amy rushed herself in front of Sonic. She took off the pink scarf and earmuffs Princess Peach gave her. She raised her right hand towards Robo-Luigi and a white, cold mist magically appeared in it. She gave a Robo-Luigi a hostile look "I'm not going to let you do this...Luigi!"

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**A standoff seems to be happening between Robo-Luigi and Ice Amy! Who will come out victorious? And will the heroes be able to find the baby penguin before the blizzard begins? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

_**Author Notes: Chapter complete! After managing to balance school work and story writing, I completed this chapter! I was a bit excited to write this chapter. Mario, Sonic and their friends finally find out what happened to Luigi!**_

**_If you don't remember the Cooligans, they are a type of enemy in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Remember those penguins that slid across the level trying to knock you out in the snow world? Yeah, those guys._**

**_The part where Penguin Mario and Yoshi slide across the ice slide is a little homage to the mission in Super Mario 64 where you race the penguin on the slide in Cool Cool Mountain. It's kind of ironic though how Mario is in penguin form himself while sliding down the slide. :D_**

**_I've finally been able to show another Sonic character use a Mario power-up! I chose Amy Rose to use the Ice Flower. I chose this combination because it kind of fit her personality. She can be kind and sweet (her soft side) but at times become violent and aggressive (her sharp side). Snow is soft and ice can be sharp. Ice Amy will be able to do things Mario and Luigi couldn't do in their Ice forms. _**

**_And don't worry, Sonic won't be missing out on the power-ups. I already have one chosen specifically for him. ;)_**

**_Well, I hope you enjoyed this weeks chapter. Remember, I post a chapter every Saturday evening, so be sure to be here when it comes up! Thanks for the support and have a great weekend!_**

**_P.S. I hope you all know that the war between me and the "plagiarist" is over. He's moved on. So should the rest of us. We should forget about all this and enjoy the upcoming stories that authors on this site will make for our enjoyment. Hopefully nothing bad like this will EVER happen again. _**

**_Bye for now!_**

******-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	34. Blizzard!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 34: Blizzard!**_

* * *

_**Sherbet Mountains, Inside Icicle Caverns **_

It was an epic standoff. The two glared each other down with hostile looks. It was between Robo-Luigi and Ice Amy. The mechanical plumber had his cannons fully charged, ready to take the heroes down and capture them. The pink hedgehog kept her hand held high towards him. A frosty blue mist of some sort of power covered her hand. Ice Amy was not going to let Robo-Luigi take them.

Sonic and Tails could only watch as the two faced each other. There was a lot of tension in the icicle cavern. Who would attack first? Knowing the power of Robo-Luigi's energ cannons, they had to be cautious of what they'd do.

Ice Amy wasn't sure what she'd do. She only obtained her newly acquired power up not even a few minutes ago. She wasn't sure what her powers could do to help her and her friends.

Robo-Luigi gave them a taunting laugh. He said with his monotone robotic voice. "MUST CAPTURE HEROES" In a blink of an eye, he shot his energy cannons at Ice Amy. Panicking, Ice Amy shielded herself with her arms. Right before the energy beams hit, her whole body suddenly transformed into an icy statue of her current posture. The beams bounced off her, directing themselves back at Robo-Luigi. They knocked him back into the wall of the cavern, creating a dent to where Robo-Luigi crashed.

Ice Amy transformed back from her ice statue form. She began looking all over her body, confused. "W-what just happened?"

Sonic quickly went up to her, also a bit surprised. "It must be one of your new powers." They soon heard Robo-Luigi recovering from his wreck. Sonic quickly grabbed her hand. "Come on, we have to find Mario and Yoshi!" The two headed for the exit of the icicle cavern, Tails following closely behind them.

Robo-Luigi flew into the air and began to chase them. He started shooting the red lasers out of his eye sockets at the heroes. They dodged each shot, continuing running. The heroes soon reached the outside of the base of the mountain. It was snowing heavily now and the sky was completely grey. The blizzard was already starting.

Sonic looked around them, soon staring up the mountain. He tapped Tails's shoulder and pointed up the mountain. "You have to fly us up there!"

Tails did what he was told. He twirled his tails and flew into the air, grabbing Sonic's hand. Amy grabbed onto Sonic's hand, pulling herself to his chest. They started flying up the mountain, hoping to evade the Robo-Luigi and find Mario and Yoshi.

Robo-Luigi flew out of the icicle cavern and jerked his head around, determined not to lose the heroes. He found them traversing up towards the mountain peak and quickly fired another energy beam at them. The energy beam missed, crashing into the side of the mountain, making a pile of snow fly explode into the air. Robo-Luigi needed to get closer to them. He power-up his jets and flew towards them.

"Tails! Fly faster!" Sonic shouted to his friend. Tails began to twirl his tails much quicker, but it wasn't enough to evade Robo-Luigi. Ice Amy looked to her hand, remembering the blue mist that covered it before. Without thinking, she raised it, causing the mist to appear again. Suddenly, a snowball appeared in her hand. She threw the snowball towards Robo-Luigi, hitting him directly on the forehead. Robo-Luigi tumbled backwards in the air, surprised to what just happened.

Sonic looked to Ice Amy, also surprised. "How'd you do that?" Ice Amy could only shrug. "Well, whatever you just did, do it again." Ice Amy prepared another snowball and lodged it towards Robo-Luigi. Being more prepared unlike last time, Robo-Luigi dodged the snowball with ease and fired another energy beam at them. It missed the heroes by a few inches, causing another pile of snow to explode into the air.

Tails continued to fly through the snowfall. It getting much stronger. More snow was falling and a strong breezed was picking up. It was starting to become hard to see in the oncoming blizzard. Tails noticed two faint figures climbing up the mountain. He alerted Sonic. "Sonic! Look over there!"

Sonic turned to where Tails pointed, also noticing the two figures. As they were getting closer, the figures became more recognizable. "Hey! That's Mario and Yoshi!" He was confused though that Mario was suddenly sporting a penguin-like suit. "Why the heck is he wearing something like that?"

Back on the mountain side, Penguin Mario and Yoshi were still climbing up the mountain. They had been climbing for the past ten minutes. Yoshi was shivering from the freezing temperature, while Mario was completely toasty in his Penguin Suit. "Man! I'm _really _starting to hate the cold right now!" He turned to Penguin Mario. "Are you sure that the baby penguin could be somewhere up here?"

Penguin Mario nodded to him. "Like the mother penguin told us, her baby may have climbed up here." They had to hurry though. The blizzard was becoming much stronger now.

While they were climbing, a green energy beam suddenly shot past them and crashed a few feet in front of them. They flew back a little and rolled down the side of the mountain. They slowly got up, shocked to what just happened. They both turned back and saw Tails, Sonic and Ice Amy flying towards them. Chasing them was Robo-Luigi.

"Hey! It's the others!" Yoshi waved at them. He stopped waving when he noticed Robo-Luigi. "Oh great...they had to bring _him _along." He turned to Penguin Mario, giving him an apologetic look. "No offence."

Ice Amy continued shooting snowballs at Robo-Luigi, who started dodging them with ease. Robo-Luigi aimed his cannon at them and shot one more energy beam. This time, it hit Tails directly on his back. Tails cried in pain and fell to the ground, bringing Sonic and Ice Amy along with him. They crashed into the side of the mountain near Penguin Mario and Yoshi. The snow on the ground softened their landing.

"Are you guys alright?" Yoshi called out to them. He and Penguin Mario quickly helped them up, brushing the snow off them. Luckily they were fine. The two noticed the different clothing Ice Amy had. "Whoa! What happened to your clothes?"

Ice Amy explained to them how she obtained a power-up in the Icicle Caverns. Penguin Mario knew what power-up she was talking about. "You must have gotten the Ice Flower. Your be capable of doing freezing moves!"

Suddenly, Robo-Luigi caught up to them. He aimed his cannons at the heroes, ready to fire another energy beam. Ice Amy quickly threw another snowball at him, hitting his forehead. Robo-Luigi shook it off, still aiming his cannons at them.

"If Amy is able to do freezing moves, then why isn't her snowballs freezing Robo-Luigi?" Tails asked Penguin Mario. He thought for a moment and started explaining to Tails. He thinks that due to Robo-Luigi's strong metal body, the snowballs aren't powerful enough to freeze him into a block of ice.

"MUST CAPTURE HEROES" Robo-Luigi spoke to them once more. He charged his cannons. This time, he power them to it's maximum. Surely, this time the heroes would be his captured!

Ice Amy thought she had to do something before Robo-Luigi attacked. She relaxed herself and took all her energy to her Ice power-up. Feeling a great amount of energy inside her, she raised both her open hands into the air, both covered in the same blue mist. She quickly thrust both of them forward towards Robo-Luigi.

Something amazing happened. A strong, white beam of ice was shot from her hands. It flew itself towards Robo-Luigi. Quickly reacting, Robo-Luigi fired his energy beams at the beam of ice. The two beams collided, causing a white and green ball of energy to appear between the two beams. The heroes couldn't believe what they were witnessing. They watched as Ice Amy and Robo-Luigi fought to make their beams stronger. At first, Ice Amy's beam started to weaken. Ice Amy was determined to win this standoff. She put all of her energy into the beam.

The ice beam became stronger! Robo-Luigi's energy beam power was maxed out, and it couldn't compare to the power of the ice beam. How was this possible? The ice beam inched closer and closer to Robo-Luigi. Soon, the ice beam came into contact with his metal body. The end of the ice beam gave off a sparkle of snow and Robo-Luigi was incased in a block of ice. He dropped into the side of the mountain, frozen.

Ice Amy was left exhausted. She was breathing heavily, standing there on the side of the mountain while the blizzard went on. The heroes watched as she slowly fell back from exhaustion. Sonic quickly caught her in his arms. Her eyes were closed, showing that she was tired. Suddenly, her clothes flashed. It changed from the Ice form's baby blue color back to Amy's normal cherry red dress.

The others were completely left in shock. They couldn't believe the epic moment they had just witnessed in front of them. "That...was...awesome!" Yoshi exclaimed. He hopped in the air, raising his fist up high. "You saw how those two beam thingy's collided with each other? That was cool!"

Penguin Mario walked up to Sonic, still holding Amy in his grasp. "Is she alright?" Sonic nodded to him. The hedgehog himself was impressed by Amy's triumphant feat. He couldn't believe she was capable of doing what she just did. He watched as Amy slowly opened her eyes in front of him. He gave her his trademark grin and winked at her, telling her he was amazed of what she did. Amy simply smiled back.

"Don't worry bro. We'll turn you back to normal soon." Penguin Mario said to the frozen Robo-Luigi. The robot seemed to have shut down. No lights were coming out of the robot. Now that Robo-Luigi wasn't a threat to them at the moment, they just had to find the baby penguin.

But how could they in this dangerous blizzard on the mountain?

"Uhm...is it me or do you guys hear something?" Tails spoke out. His ears twitched a little, listening to the sound. The heroes tried to hear what Tails was hearing through the windy blizzard. It seemed to be the sound of something waddling. Suddenly, a loud cry was heard. It came from near the summit of the mountain. They all looked to where they heard the sound.

In front of them, a small, baby penguin was waddling towards them through the blizzard. It walked up to Pengiun Mario and gave out a small penguin cry. The heroes gave a cheerful laugh. Penguin Mario carefully grabbed the baby penguin and rocked it in his arms. "Okie-dokie, little fellow. We have to take you to your mama now." The baby penguin cheered in delight.

All seemed fine at the moment. Well, until...

_RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!_

The heroes began to hear a loud rumble. It slowly began to become louder and louder, as if something was coming closer to the heroes. Yoshi looked up towards the summit of the mountain and what he saw shocked him. He saw a large cloud of snow was tumbling down towards them. He screamed in horror and yelled out to the heroes. "AVALANCE!"

The rest of the heroes noticed the avalanche. It was huge! They had to get out of the way, fast! Sonic told Tails to fly them off the mountain. Tails quickly flew in the air, with Yoshi holding tightly on his feet. Sonic was about to go next when he turned back to see what Penguin Mario was doing. He was trying to push the frozen block Robo-Luigi was encased in down the mountain. Sonic told Amy to go with the others. She quickly grabbed a hold of Yoshi's hand and the others flew off without them.

The avalanche was closing in on them. Sonic began helping Penguin Mario push the frozen Robo-Luigi down the mountain. The baby penguin watched the two struggle. They pushed and pushed until the block started moving. It slowly began sliding down the mountain. Sonic hopped onto the frozen Robo-Luigi. Penguin Mario gave him the baby penguin to hold onto as he was going to slide down the mountain on his belly himself.

Penguin Mario dropped down onto his belly and started sliding beside Sonic, the baby penguin and the frozen Robo-Luigi. They slid down the side of the mountain, racing away from the avalanche. The avalanche still gave chase after them. They reached the base of the mountain and slid through Evergreen Forest. They twisted around the evergreen trees. The avalanche simply crashed through them like it was glass.

They reached the lake in Evergreen Forest. Sonic turned the frozen Robo-Luigi so they woulod go around the lake. Because Penguin Mario was going at an incredible amount of speed, he skidded across the lake. They reached the other side of the lake, slid past through the rest of Evergreen Forest and leisurely slid the remainder of the way back to Snowflake Village. The avalanche stopped at the edge of the forest. The whole place ended up being covered by piles and piles of snow.

By the time they reached Snowflake Village, the blizzard seemed to die down to a gentle snow fall. Penguin Mario and Sonic had to push the frozen ice block of Robo-Luigi to the fountain of Snowflake Village. They left him near fountain and headed into a nearby coffee shop where the rest of the heroes waited for them. They were warmly greeted by the others, relieved that they came back alright.

The baby penguin waddled up to it's mother. The mother quickly picked her baby up and hugged it gracefully, happy for it to be safe and sound. "Oh my little baby! Don't ever worry mama like that again. I'm so glad you're alright..." she turned towards the heroes and gave them her warmest thanks. She took out the Power Star she promised and happily gave it to them.

"Alright! We got another Power Star!" Yoshi exclaimed. He hummed a little victory tune and danced about a little. A sweet aroma suddenly caught his attention. It smelled like hot chocolate. "Mmmm! That smells delicious!" He quickly went up to the counter of the coffee shop and bought a cup of hot chocolate. The rest of the heroes also bought themselves one.

"Nothing better than a warm cup of hot chocolate after a long day in the cold." Sonic said warmly, taking a sip out of his cup. He sat down near one of the windows, along with Mario who had just removed his Penguin Suit. He looked out at the window and saw the frozen Robo-Luigi outside. He turned to Mario with a curious face. "So...how do you think we'll turn you're brother back to normal?"

Mario thought for a moment, looking into his hot chocolate. "I'm-a sure that Professor Gadd has something that can change him back." Still, if the professor didn't have anything to change Luigi back, Mario wasn't sure what he would do.

"Well, don't worry," Sonic tried to assure him. "Whether a robot or not, he's still your brother. I'm sure there's some way we can reprogram him if changing him back to normal isn't an option." Mario nodded. But still, it wouldn't be the same without his normal brother.

The heroes stayed in the coffee shop a little longer to warm up. After about half an hour, they decided to leave. They said goodbye to the mother penguin and her baby and headed back to the Chop Chop Helicopter at the entrance of Snowflake Village. They carried the frozen block of Robo-Luigi with them and carefully tucked him at the back of the helicopter. The Chop Chop Helicopter slowly flew into the air and made it's way back to Toad Town. Sherbet Mountain was left in peace once more.

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Junior's Bedroom_**

It was quiet in Junior's Bedroom. The koopaling had nothing to do, so he lied on his prince-sized bed. He was holding the Purple Chaos Emerald in his hands, aodring it's beauty. He was still confused to why it never glowed, as the shadow figure told him. The Chaos Emeralds were supposed to glow near the Star Children and since Junior was supposedly one of them, his emerald should be glow. But it wasn't.

"This emerald is probably broken..." Junior sighed to himself. The tucked the Purple Chaos Emerald away in his pocket and hopped off his bed. He was about to exit his room when suddenly a familiar purple shadowy mist appeared in the middle of his room. Junior knew who it was, so he waited until the shadow figure appeared out of the mist.

"_I have returned..." _the shadow figure announced to him in a deep voice. Junior was confused. It seemed like a big deal to the shadow figure at the moment, even if he did appear to Junior for almost the tenth time. "_Hmph...I can see the confused look on your face." _the shadow figure said to him. "_Why should I suddenly announce my arrival? It is because I had just come back from a different world..."_

Junior was surprised. "Whoa, really? Which one? Your world?" the shadow figure slowly nodded to him. Junior was amazed. "Cool! But why did you go back therre in the first place?"

The shadow figure pulled out it's shadow paintbrush and waved around in the air. "_I went...to retrieve this!_" suddenly, a large object appeared in front of him. It looked like a Chaos Emerald, except it was much bigger and it sparkled brightly. The emerald was a a simple green color.

Junior was amazed by it's size. "Wow! A humongous Chaos Emerald!" Junior walked up to it and carefully inspected it. He really wished now that he had _this _emerald than the small purple one he had.

"_In my world, this is what we call the Master Emerald." _the shadow figure began to explain. _"It is much stronger than the Chaos Emeralds, holding an unbound and infinite power. It has the power to control everything the Chaos Emeralds do. I had to steal it away from the guardian who protected this valuable jewel." _

Junior was still staring at the Master Emerald in awe. He turned to the shadow figure, still confused. "Wait, why do we need this huge crystal then?"

The shadow figure asked if he remembered their plan. Junior nodded. Their plan was to open a portal to the Negative World, a world filled with unlimited negative energy, by using part of the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds along with the power of the Star Children. They would enter the Negative World and consume all the negative energy and become indestructible.

"_Without the Master Emerald though, this plan is useless." _the shadow figure added. He explained to Junior that inside the Negative World, there was dangerous being that ruled the dimension. To be able to use the negative energy in there, the person looking for that energy would need to offer the being a gift. The gift that the shadow figure was willing to give was the Master Emerald.

"_We are close to succeeding in our plan, Junior." _the shadow figure said. He made the Master Emerald disappear. He held his hand out and magically made another Chaos Emerald appear in his hand. It was the Silver Chaos Emerald. "_Tonight, I shall give the next Star Child this emerald." _The shadow figure remembered about his "minion". He sensed that his "minion" had failed him. He came up with another plan. "_This star children will also "help" us in our plan. He will help us destroy that insolent hedgehog and his friends!" _

Suddenly, the shadow figure disappeared in a shadowy purple mist. Junior was confused. He wasn't sure what the shadow figure was talking about. He shrugged it off and soon exited his bedroom. He planned to head to the lab and try to get a sneak peek on his papa and Dr. Eggman's "doomsday" machine.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes have found the next Power Star! Will this be enough to send the heroes back home? And how did the shadow figure obtain the Master Emerald? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**_Author Notes: This chapter is finally finished. It's a tiny bit shorter than my previous chapters, but hey, it's still pretty interesting to read. I've been busy during school and haven't had much time to work on my story. _**

**_It was kind of hard to think of what powers Ice mMy could do. I didn't want her to just shoot snowballs. So I made up a few more power-ups that are more action-oriented. Ice Amy is abler to turn into an ice stature of her current position, being unbreakable and able to relflect projectiles. But she won't be able to move in this state. The Ice Beam is when she harnesses enough ice power and shoot an incredible ice beam, which freezes her enemies. _**

**_I wasn't able to showcase her walking on frozen water/lava. But that will happen soon enough in the story._**

**_I ended the Sherbet Mountains adventure with an avalanche scene. I remembered when I played Sonic Adventure, near the end of the "Ice Cap" level, you would race down a mountain on a snowboard, being chased by an avalanche near the beginning and near the end you would end up in a small village. You could say this scenario was inspired by the level I just mentioned._**

**_Hmm, the shadow figure has the Master Emerald. Could this be hinting on something? I don't know. :D_**

**_Anyway, thanks for reading my story and thanks for all the support. Make sure to come back next Saturday to read the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

**********-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	35. The Guardian!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 35: The Guardian!_**

* * *

**_Toad Town, Princess Peach's Castle_**

It was the middle of the afternoon once our heroes arrived back from their adventure in Sherbet Mountains. They had the Power Star safely in their hands. They brought along the body of Robo-Luigi with them. He was deactivated due to Ice Amy's beam attack. The ice cube he was in had eventually melted in the Chop Chop Helicopter. The heroes laid his body on Princess Peach's royal bed. They looked at his body, wondering what to do with it.

"I can't believe the horrific act the shadow figure could ever put upon ultipoor Luigi." Peach said to the heroes. She sat beside the body of Robo-Luigi, feeling the metallic arm of the robot. Luigi's soul and mind was still inside the damaged robot. How could the heroes transform their friend back to normal?

Yoshi walked up to the body of Robo-Luigi, stared into it's lifeless face and deeply sighed. He desperately wanted his best friend back. Mario walked up to Yoshi and comforted him, telling him they'll find a way to get back Luigi.

Tails began thinking of ways on how they could transfrom Luigi back to normal, but so far he had no clue on how to. "This is pretty complicated. How exactly _are _you supposed to change a robot into a human being? I don't know if any type of machinery could do such a thing."

Sonic shook his head in disappointment. "Well then, I'm assuming the option to go to Professor Gadd for help is out of the question." Tails nodded to him. They had to think of an alternative way.

Suddenly, Amy felt a small tingle on her right hand. Wondering what it was, she removed her glove, revealing an Ice Flower mark on the back of her hand. "Oh my. What happened to my hand?"

Everyone looked at her hand, seeing the Ice Flower mark. Tails remembered his Fire Flower mark and compared both marks. "I'm guessing the energy of the Ice Flower has finally stored itself inside you. As Professor Gadd said before, you'd be only be able to use the Ice Flower, like how I'm only able to use the Fire Flower."

"That's still pretty confusing," Sonic said. "I know that _we _are from another world, but why does it limit us to only using _one _power-up? That's kinda lame in my opinion." The others weren't sure. They never really let the subject bother them.

Toadsworth suddenly barged into the room, seemingly excited. "Jolly good! I think I have the solution!" The heroes looked at him with confused looks. Toadsworth took a minute to calm down and spoke in a calm tone. "I just got off the phone with this friendly Magikoopa. It seems that he may be able to transform Luigi into his happy-old self again!" The heroes were extremely delighted to hear the news. Toadsworth continued to speak. "The old chap told me he'd be here by nightfall. All we need to do at the moment is wait."

Yoshi's tail wagged happily. He couldn't wait to see Luigi back to his old self again. He turned to Mario, who seemed to have a smile on his face. "Isn't this great? Luigi will be back to normal! Now we'll be able to go on adventures together again." The dinosaur wished so hard for nightfall to come quickly.

Everyone decided to leave the room for now until the Magikoopa would come. They headed to the foyer of the castle when suddenly the Purple Mail Toad entered. He had an invitation for them. "MAIL FOR MARIO AND SONIC!" He went up to the heroes and handed them the invitation. It was in a pink envelope.

"This better not be another fake invitation to another mansion." Sonic joked as he opened up the envelope. He read the letter aloud:

_Dear Mario and Sonic,_

_Hey y'all! It's me, Toadette! I just wanted to see how you guys are doing right now. I've heard a lot has happened during your search for the Power Stars. You sure are amazing heroes! Anyway, things have been going great in the Mushroom City. My very first recital was a huge hit! So many people enjoyed it and I've gotten astounding praise for my conducting skills. Ever since then, I've been conducting for orchestras every night. _

_I was just wondering if you had the time, you could come and watch one of my recitals. I'm sure after a long journey of finding Power Stars, you could take the time to relax and enjoy some beautiful classical music. __You'd even be able to watch at no charge! _ I would really appreciate it. 

_Well, I wish y'all good luck to finding the rest of the Power Stars! Bye for now!_

_Sincerely, Toadette._

The heroes looked at each other for a moment and smiled. "So what do you think?" Sonic asked them. "You guys up to listening to some classical music?" Everyone agreed. It would be an enchanting experience to go to a recital and see Toadette again.

Everyone quickly got ready and prepared for their flight to Mushroom City via Chop Chop Helicopter. Princess Peach would come along with them. She told Toadsworth to keep a sharp eye on Robo-Luigi and made sure the Magikoopa would come to the castle on time. The heroes climbed aboard the Chop Chop Helicopter and began their flight to the Mushroom City, looking forward to a night of wonderful music to enchant them.

* * *

_**Hot Hot Desert, Wario's Palace **_

The temperature in Hot Hot Desert was blazing like the surface of the sun. There was hardly any breeze throughout the sun-baked desert. Somewhere though, was a golden palace. One made out of the finest gold you could ever find. The palace had sparkling golden walls, luxurious chandeliers, red royal carpets and shiny marble floors. Inside each room were piles and piles of extravagant treasures from around the Mushroom Kingdom.

The palace belonged to none other than the greedy Wario. He was in his throne room, sitting on his expensive throne chair. He was "digging for gold" at the moment. Around him was his treasures. He was proud of himself for stealing all of the jewels in front of him. To him, they were no doubt rightfully his.

"Man, I'm so awesome!" Wario bellowed in his glory. He grabbed a handful of gold from one of the treasure piles and threw it up in the air. He laughed in glory as the jewels rained around him. "I'm one of the richest men in the world! No, I'm _the _richest man in the world! Ahaha!"

Wario continued laughing until Waluigi barged into his throne room, tired. He had just stored in the last of the treasure they had stolen away from the Mummithwomp's Pyramid. "I'm all done, Wario!"

"Excellent!" Wario cheered. He hopped back into his throne, looking around at all of their treasures. "Now, we can bask in glory while looking at our magnificant treasures that's _rightfully_ ours!"

Waluigi scratched the side of his head, a little confused. "But Wario, why don't we use some of this gold mine to buy ourselves something useful. Like, a pool for the palace!" He quickly got slapped in the face by Wario, who explained to him they couldn't buy a pool due to the scorching temperatures of the desert. It would evaporate the water faster than they could fill it up.

"And besides," Wario reminded him. "once that _shadow_ thingy has completed it's task, he'll grant us unlimited power like he promised us! We won't need anymore money once we rule the world! Everyone will bow down to us and give us _their_ treasures!" Wario dug into his back pocket and took out a shining, yellow jewel. It was none other than the Yellow Chaos Emerald. It sparkled in front of him.

"Gee, I've never seen one of those before." Waluigi spoke. "You better be right about this plan, Wario. I want to buy another casino for myself!" Wario assured him of his plan. He trusted the shadow figure. After all, once they had proven their worthiness of being a Star Children, the shadow figure let them keep the treasure they had stolen from the Mummithwomp's Pyramid. It seemed like a surefire plan!

Suddenly, the two heard a distant noise. It sound like something was falling from the sky. The sound gradually became louder. The noise stopped all of a sudden. Wario and Waluigi quickly shook it off, but then, something unexpected happened. A red comet soaring down at the speed of light crashed through the roof of Wario's palace and landed in a pile of coins. The two were comepletey awestruck to what just happened.

"Gwah! We're under attack!" Waluigi squawked out. He rushed behind Wario's throne chair, hiding from the unknown object that fell from the comet. In contrast, Wario was completely furious. Whatever came from that comet, it had broken his palace roof!

"Grrrr!" Wario growled as he hopped out of his throne chair. He shoved the Yellow Chaos Emerald back into his pocket. His face was steaming with rage. "This is unacceptable! Once I find out who broke my roof, they're gonna have a taste of my _knuckle _sandwich!" He headed towards where the object had landed. Suddenly, the pile of coins started to move. Wario and Waluigi watched as this red-looking creature crawled out of mess. It looked around, unaware of where it was.

"What the-who are you!" Wario shouted at the red creature and pointed angrily at it. The red creature panicked and quickly ran out of the throne room, escaping the palace. Wario snorted at it's cowardice. "Yeah, you better run! After what you just did to my palace!"

Waluigi stared up at the broken roof. It had made a large, cracked hole. He scratched his head again in confusion. "Gee, I wonder how something like that could happen." He turned to Wario, who was grumbling about something. "So Wario, who's going to fix the roof?"

Wario slowly turned to Waluigi, with a bitter look on his face. Taking the hint, Waluigi rushed out of the throne room and into the palace basement, intending to find the very tall ladder they had. Wario stared back to the broken roof, cracking his _knuckles_ in the process.

"Whoever did this is going to pay!"

* * *

_**Mushroom City, Flower Concert Hall**_

It was evening by the time our heroes had just arrived in the hustling, bustling Mushroom City and already made their way into the Flower Concert Hall. It looked the same way they left it before. A long red, fancy carpet running through the middle of the lobby, meeting the registration desk. Comfy couches on the sides of the room, beige curtains and a large chandelier. They were sitting in the lobby, awaiting for Toadette to come find them.

Yoshi was excited for the recital. He hadn't seen one yet, so this experience was going to be very interesting for him. "Gee, I can't wait! I hope they play some rock and roll! Or perhaps hip-hop."

Tails chuckled at Yoshi's comment. "Yoshi, this is orchestral recital. I don't think they'll have any fancy electric guitar riffs or fast drum solos." Yoshi sighed. He didn't seem excited as he was before, but still he was looking forward to the recital.

Princess Peach and Amy were talking about Toadette's upcoming recital. They were hoping it would be filled with glorious musical performances that would soothe the ears. Mario was standing beside the lobby's doors. He was still thinking about his Luigi's condition. Would the Magikoopa's treatment work? What if it didn't? Then he'd have a lifeless robot as his brother for the rest of his life! Sonic noticed the glum look on his face and went up to him. "Hey, is something the matter?"

Mario shook his head, trying to deny the fact he was still a little worried. Sonic obviously knew what Mario was thinking. He patted his shoulder in comfort. "Come on, don't worry about your brother. I'm sure after the Magikoopa is done with him, he'll be back to his normal self. We should be enjoying ourselves right now."

Mario sighed. "I'm-a know you're trying to comfort me Sonic, but still, don't you know what I'm going through? This may be the _only _chance I'll get my brother back and if it doesn't work, my whole life will never be the same." He turned to Sonic, giving him a serious look. "Wasn't there a time in your life where you had to face a big dilemma?"

Sonic grinned and nodded to him. He remembered the tough choices he made in his past adventures. "You don't know how many times that's happened to me. But during those times, I go with the flow and that usually runs me off in the right direction. What I'm trying to say is trust yourself that everything's going to be okay, and usually it does."

Mario nodded at Sonic's words, understanding what he meant. "You know, Sonic, you're really good at giving advice." Sonic thanked him. They gave each other a thumbs-up. The two had become really good friends so far. They looked at their other friends, who seemed to enjoy talking to one another. Their friendships had grown so much over the past few days.

"Hey y'all!" someone shouted in the lobby. The heroes turned and saw Toadette waving at them near the registration desk. They were delighted to see each other again.

"Hello there, Toadette." Peach happily greeted her as she went up to them. "I've heard pleasant things about your recitals. I'm looking forward to listening to them." Toadette smiled. She was glad the heroes accepted her invitation.

"So how's conducting for you lately?" Yoshi asked her. "Is it hard? Is it easy? I wanna know!"

"It's been an amazing experience!" Toadette answered. She explained how wonderful it was to conduct an orchestra. People from all around the Mushroom Kingdom praised her conducting skills. It made her feel really important and she appreciated the compliments. "Anyway, if you guys came to watch my recital, I'm afraid you're a little too early. The recital doesn't start until one hour from now."

The heroes were slightly disappointed, not knowing what to do for the next hour. Amy quickly suggested to explore around Mushroom City a little more, and that's what our heroes did. They walked around Mushroom City, admiring the busy life it had in it. It was going to be an exciting night for the heroes.

Unfortunately, it wasn't what they had expected...

* * *

_**Congo Jungle, DK's Treehouse**_

It was a peaceful evening in Congo Jungle. Right now, the Kong's were inside their treehouse, eating a hoard of bananas they had just found. Diddy Kong took quick, small bites out of the bananas, while Donkey Kong chucked in five bananas at a time, with the peels still on.

"These are the best bananas I've had in _forever!" _Diddy Kong exclaimed, finishing up a banana and throwing the peel on the floor. Donkey Kong agreed with him. The Kongs ate the bananas so quickly, that they finished all of them in the blink of an eye. They stared at the pile of banana peels, wondering what to do now. They were still hungry, there bellies grumbling in hunger.

"Don't worry!" Donkey Kong assured him, heading for the door to his tree house. "I'll find us some more." He exited his tree house, jumping into the trees and swung around using the vines. He went around the jungle, snatching up hoards of bananas. Donkey Kong took a break, carefully placing the bananas he'd found onto the ground. He couldn't wait to eat them along with Diddy Kong.

Just then, something was shot in front of Donkey Kong. He jumped back, surprised from the attack. Donkey Kong looked up, and was immensely shocked to what he saw. Floating in front of him, was the shadow figure, pointing it's shadow paintbrush towards Donkey Kong. It had just shot am shadow lightning bolt. Donkey Kong remembered the evil creature and gave it an angry looking, clenching his teeth and holding his hands in fists. "What are you doing back in my jungle?"

The shadow figure gave Donkey Kong an evil smirk. _"So...you are one of them." _Donkey Kong was confused. What was the shadow figure talking about? Suddenly, the shadow figure shot another shadow lightning bolt at Donkey Kong, but the ape quickly dodged it. Donkey Kong rushed towards the shadow figure, giving out a ferocious gorilla roar. He jumped at him and proceeded to punch the shadow figure, but it quickly teleported behind Donkey Kong and struck him down into the ground, injuring the ape.

_"You are a strong one, I admit,"_ the shadow figure said to Donkey Kong. _"which makes you perfect for my plan."_ Donkey Kong slowly stood up, still willing to fight the shadow figure. Suddenly the shadow figure cast a spell upon him, the same spell he had used on someone. Donkey Kong gave out an agonized scream, pained from the spell. He fought the pain.

_"With your immense strength and large size, you'll have no problem in getting rid of them." _the shadow figure told him. Donkey Kong continued to struggle from the spell. Suddenly, his fur began to change color. It changed from it's regular brown color to a dark-grayish tone. His eyes suddenly turned black and his pupils turned red. Donkey Kong felt his mind go insane. He began to lose his control of his body. A sudden feeling of rage filled inside of him, one that he never felt before. He felt like he wanted to _kill _someone.

_"Good...it's working."_ the shadow figure said to himself, nodding while Donkey Kong transformed into a different beast. The shadow figure raised his hand in the air and made the Silver Chaos Emerald appear in it. _"I just need to add one more thing to this spell." _The Chaos Emerald transformed from it's jewel form into a bright light form. It floated towards Donkey Kong and disappeared inside his body. Suddenly, Donkey Kong grew in size. He grew as tall as a building. It made his change in appearance much more terrifying. Donkey Kong towered over the trees in the jungle. The pain in his body was gone. The spell was finished.

It had transformed him into a gigantic monster, the shadow figure calling him _"Giga Donkey Kong."_

_"You are now my slave." _the shadow figure said, floating up to Giga Donkey Kong's face. The giant nodded back to the shadow figure. He explained to him what he wanted him to do. _"I want you to find Sonic and his friends, and bring them to me!" _

Giga Donkey Kong gave out a mighty roar at the shadow figure's command. He beat his chest vigorously. His roar was twice as loud as a bullhorn. Giga Donkey Kong made it's way out of Congo Jungle and began it's search for the heroes. The shadow figure watched him leave the area.

"_Hopefully, this plan will work, unlike the last one..." _the shadow figure said to itself. Suddenly, the last two Chaos Emeralds appeared in front of him. It was the Red and Cyan Chaos Emeralds. _"Five Star Children down, two more to go." _The shadow figure disappeared from the jungle, resuming it's search for the Star Children.

Meanwhile, back at the Kong's Treehouse, Diddy Kong was extremely panicking, holding his hands to the side of his head and jumping up and down in fear. He had just witnessed everything. What was he going to do? Donkey Kong was now under control of the shadow figure! "Gahh! I need to find help!"

Diddy Kong quickly rushed back into the tree house, taking his barrel jet pack with him. He rushed out of the jungle, hoping to find the heroes in time...

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**Giga Donkey Kong is on the loose! Will he find the heroes and destroy them? And what was the creature that Wario and Waluigi encountered? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

* * *

**_Author Notes: Chapter complete. I say this chapter was alright. Funny thing, I almost completely forgot to update the chapter for today. I just remembered when I popped open my laptop. My brain is so amazing at remembering things. I got a little drowsy when I wrote this chapter, but I'm fine. But anyway, hopefully you guys enjoyed reading it._**

**_Giga Donkey Kong was inspired by Giga Bowser. You know how in the Smash Bros. series, Bowser could transform into a more malovent and destructive form of himself? This is Donkey Kong's version. I liked the way it turned out. Gray fur, black eyes, red pupils and a larger size. It looks scary when you imagine it in your head. _**

**_Wario and Waluigi haven't appeared in the story in a LONG time, so I decided to write them into this chapter. They will be important characters soon, but right now they're taking a back seat. And I wonder what that red creature is. I know there is a character who is red, but which one again? Hmm._**

**_Well, thanks for taking the time to read this chapter. Make sure to come back next week to read the next one. Thanks for everyone's support. Without you guys, I wouldn't be writing this story. Bye for now!_**

**_Oh yeah, Happy 1st Day of October. I just wanted to point that out for anyone who hasn't realized it yet. :P_**

**__************-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	36. Kong Rampage!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 36: Kong Rampage!_**

* * *

**_Mushroom City, Inside Flower Concert Hall_**

It was already nightfall. The concert hall was packed with loads of people looking forward to a night of wonderful music. Almost all of the seats were filled. Toadette's band was already set up onstage. They had instruments such as violins, cellos, clarinets, flutes, drums and more. Toadette herself was still preparing behind the stage. She was wearing her conducting outfit. It was a regular conducters outfit, only it was all pink instead of black. She held her conducting stick in her hand.

Our heroes were sitting near the front rows of the concert hall, excited for the performance. They wondered what kind of musical piece Toadette and her orchestra would perform for the audience. Yoshi hoped it would be an upbeat, happy tune. Amy and Peach aspired for a warm, compassionate piece, one that would fill them with a majestic feeling. Sonic wanted a loud, rock and roll type tune, but he _knew_ that would never happen.

After a few minutes, Toadette walked up on stage and positioned herself in front of the orchestra. She rose her conducting stick up, prompting the musicians to raise their instruments in their ready positions. After a few moments, she began waving her stick in a conducting manner. The orchestra started playing a soft, pleasant tune. It soothed the whole concert hall. There was a short pause. Suddenly, the tune became more fast-paced and epic sounding. It gradually became faster and faster until Toadette stopped the orchestra. She conducted them back to the soft tune in the beginning. The tune soon ended and the crowd cheerfully applauded. The heroes also clapped, impressed by the orchestras, and Toadette's performance.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Tails exclaimed. He and the rest of the heroes watched as Toadette bowed down in front of the whole crowd. She had a proud look on her face. She turned back to the orchestra, ready to play their next piece. Right as they were about to play, a loud, stomping sound was heard. It shook the whole room in the concert hall.

"Hmm...nice bass going on." Yoshi said. Mario shook his head, explaining to him it wasn't the bass. The stomping noise became louder and louder. The shaking became much more violent. It suddenly stopped. Everyone thought it was done, but suddenly a loud, ferocious roar was heard, coming from the outside.

"What was that?" Amy shouted in surprise. No one knew. Suddenly, the doors of the concert hall flung open. In came Diddy Kong, hopping up and down in panic. He was shouting for help. The heroes came up to him, trying to calm him down.

"Whoa, Diddy Kong! Take a deep breath and calm down." Sonic told him. Diddy Kong nodded to him and slowly calmed down. "Alright, now tell us what's wrong."

"It's terrible!" Diddy Kong shouted in agony. "You see, me and Donkey Kong were in the jungle and-" before he could finish his sentence, a loud crash was heard outside. A car alarm soon followed up. Screaming was heard. Chaos was emerging from outside. Diddy Kong had to show the heroes what was going on. "Quick! Follow me!"

The heroes followed Diddy Kong outside. When they came out, all they could see around them was overturned cars on the street and people running around in terror. Street lights were flashing on and off. The heroes couldn't believe what was happening in Mushroom City.

"My goodness! Who could have _done_ this!" Peach spoke out. She held her hands to her mouth, completely shocked from the scene. Suddenly, another loud, ferocious roar was heard. It sounded like it came from right above them. The heroes looked up to the roof of the Flower Concert Hall and were terrified from what they saw. On top of the roof, was Giga Donkey Kong. He was holding a Wiggler Transit Bus with both his hands, giving off a maniacal look on his face. He gave out another roar and threw the bus in the air. It soared across half the city and crashed into the streets. Luckily, it didn't hit anyone.

Yoshi pointed at Giga Donkey Kong. "What exactly _is _that thing?" Mario inspected the huge beast, and quickly recognized him. He looked to Diddy Kong, asking him to explain what happened. Diddy Kong told them everything. He explained how the shadow figure used some sort of magic spell to transform Donkey Kong into this monstrous beast.

Sonic shook his head in frustration. "Man, I should haveve known that shadow figure was behind this." He punched his fist into the palm of his hand. "He must be _real _determined to get rid of us." He looked up to Giga Donkey Kong, wondering how they would get rid of that.

Suddenly, Giga Donkey Kong jumped off the building and landed onto the street right in front of the Flower Concert Hall. The ground rumbled violently, as if an earthquake hit the area. Giga Donkey Kong turned around, seeing the heroes. He gave them a petrifying look and roared at them. He suddenly reached his hand towards them and grabbed Amy. She screamed in horror. "Aaaaah! Help!"

Sonic quickly reacted and tried grabbing Amy's hand, but missed. He fell forward onto the ground. He looked up to Giga Donkey Kong and pointed at him. "Hey! Let her go!"

Giga Donkey Kong ignored him. He stared at Amy with his intimidating red pupils and roared at her. Amy struggled to free herself from Giga Donkey Kongs grasp, but it was no use. Giga Donkey stared off into the distance, seeing the Empire Shroom Building. He quickly headed into that direction. HE climbed over buildings and trudged across the streets. Amy shouted back to the heroes.

Tails and Yoshi quickly helped Sonic back up. They could only watch as Giga Donkey Kong headed for the Empire Shroom Building. "We have to do something." Tails told Sonic. They weren't sure what to do though. How would they be able to stop a titanic, rampaging gorilla?"

Suddenly, Toadette came running outside to them. "I may be able to help!" She had also witnessed the wrath of Giga Donkey Kong. When she saw how huge he was, she instantly knew what the heroes could do to stop him. In her hand, she had a small box. She opened the box, revealing inside what appeared to be a Super Mushroom, only it had mean-looking eyes and it's cap was all purple, with a skull logo on front. "This is a Poison Mushroom." Toadette explained. "If you can get that huge gorilla to somehow eat this, it will shrink him back to his normal size, giving you a fair chance against him."

Toadette carefully handed the box the Poison Mushroom was in to Mario. They knew they had only one chance with this. Mario, Sonic, Yoshi, Tails and Diddy Kong headed in the same direction Giga Donkey Kong was with Amy, while Peach and Toadette stayed behind in the Flower Concert Hall. They wished the heroes good luck.

Meanwhile, Giga Donkey Kong had just reached the Empire Shroom Building. He remembered what the shadow figure had commanded him to do. He had to bring Sonic and his friends to the shadow figure. Giga Donkey Kong was going to use Amy as their bait. He looked at Amy, who was still struggling to free herself.

"Let me go!" Amy shouted at Giga Donkey Kong. He gave her an angry look and roared at her once more. Amy stared back at him and suddenly recognized her friend. "Wait a minute, Donkey Kong?" Giga Donkey Kong gave a surprised look. Due to the shadow figure's mind control, he didn't have any control of what he was doing or remember anything else. But when Amy said it, his consciousness slowly kicked it. He wondered what was he doing in the Mushroom City and why he was holding Amy in his grasp.

_"NO! YOU MUST CARRY OUT THE PLAN!" _a familiar voice boomed into Giga Donkey Kong's head. He snapped back into the mind control and vigorously roared into the air. He began climbing up the side of the Empire Shroom Building. Amy began to scream again.

The heroes had just reached the corner of the Empire Shroom Building and watched as Giga Donkey Kong climbed up it's side. "What is he trying to do?" Sonic wondered. Whatever it was, the heroes had a plan to stop Giga Donkey Kong. Once Giga Donkey Kong reached the rooftop, Diddy Kong would fly up to him with his barrel jet pack and start shooting at him with his Peanut Popguns, which would distract him. Then, Tails would fly Mario up with him. They would wait until Giga Donkey Kong would open his mouth again and throw the Poison Mushroom in. It would most likely shrink Giga Donkey Kong back to normal size, causing him to let go of Amy. Sonic and Yoshi would be waiting somewhere near the rooftop and one of them would catch her. Then they would fight Giga Donkey Kong.

"I hope this plan works." Yoshi said with a nervous tone. Everyone prepared themselves. Diddy Kong took out both his Peanut Popguns, each fully loaded with ammo. He opened up his barrel jet pack and flew high into the sky, heading towards Giga Donkey Kong. Tails propelled himself into the air, holding onto Mario and flew up as well. Mario had the Poison Mushroom still inside the box. Sonic and Yoshi went inside the Empire Shroom Building, heading to to rooftop.

Giga Donkey Kong had finally reached the top of the Empire Shroom Building. He held onto the tall pole on the building and gave out another loud roar, which echoed throughout the Mushroom City. Amy looked down into the streets, seeing how high they were. She was hoping the others could save her.

Diddy Kong flew up to them and stared Giga Donkey Kong in the eyes, aiming his Peanut Popguns at him. "This is for your own good, Donkey Kong!" He began rapidly shooting peanuts at him. It hit Giga Donkey Kong, which angered him. He roared loudly at Diddy Kong as he continued to shoot the peanuts at him.

Tails and Mario quickly caught up to them. Tails looked down to Mario. "Make sure you're ready." Mario nodded to him, assuring he was. The two flew closer to Giga Donkey Kong, hovering themselves a safe distance above his head. Seeing this, Giga Donkey Kong tried to punch them with his hand that held Amy. They quickly dodged it, hardly believing what just happened. "I can't believe he's trying to punch us, while Amy is in his hand!" The heroes had to finish their plan quickly before any of them would get hurt.

Sonic and Yoshi had reached the top of the Empire Shroom Building. They were a few floors lower from Giga Donkey Kong. Yoshi looked down, seeing how high they were. "Gee, one wrong step and you're done." Sonic tried to assure him they would be okay. They watched as Diddy Kong continued to shoot peanuts at Giga Donkey Kong and Tails and Mario trying to throw the Poison Mushroom into his mouth.

Suddenly, one of the peanuts that hit Giga Donkey Kong had hit him so hard, he temporarily lost grip from the tall pole he was holding onto. He stepped back a bit, causing the rooftop to rumble. The rumble caused Sonic and Yoshi to lose balance. Yoshi landed on his stomach, holding tightly onto the rooftop. Unfortunately, Sonic fell backwards and suddenly fell off the Empire Shroom Building. Yoshi panicked and tried to grab him with his tongue, but it didn't reach far enough for him. "Aaah! Sonic!"

Sonic screamed as he fell down the side of the building. There was nothing he could grab onto. Knowing he wouldn't survive the fall, he quickly braced himself. He thought it was all over for him. The impact would surely finish him.

Suddenly, something swooped down and caught his hand. The thing that caught him quickly glided them both onto another rooftop. It carefully dropped Sonic. He slowly stood up and wiped off some dust. He was relieved he was saved. He turned to the person who had saved him and was completely amazed and shocked to see who was standing right in front of him.

_"_Knuckles!_"_

The red echidna simply nodded at him and smiled. He held out his hand. "Long time, no see, Sonic!" Sonic smiled back and shook his hand, both joyful to see one another again. "I can't believe I found you here! Where are Tails and Amy?"

Sonic quickly pointed back at the Empire Shroom Building. Knuckles saw the situation that they were in. A gave a shocked look. "What the heck? Is that a giant gorilla on that building?" He turned to Sonic. "So, what plan do you have in mind?" Sonic explained the plan he and the others made. Knuckles thought it over for awhile. "Good plan and all, but how about I spice it up a bit?" He explained to Sonic what they should do.

"Hmm, not bad." Sonic commented. He gave him a thumbs up, agreeing to Knuckles's plan. "You know, unlike other knuckleheads, you're pretty smart!" Knuckles simply gave him an annoyed look.

"Good to know you haven't changed when you were gone, Sonic." Knuckles told him in a sarcastic voice. He quickly turned serious. "Now come on!" He jumped off the rooftop they were on and glided his way towards the Empire Shroom Building. Sonic jumped down to the streets and sped his way there.

Meanwhile, Giga Donkey Kong was growing immune to Diddy Kong's Peanut Popguns. They were starting to have no effect on him. He simply ignored it. Diddy Kong was became frustrated. "Gah! These things aren't working anymore!"

Tails and Mario were still trying to drop the Poison Mushroom into Giga Donkey Kong's mouth, but the gorilla just wouldn't open it anymore. "There's gotta be another way to shove this Poison Mushroom into his mouth." Tails said to Mario. Giga Donkey Kong continued to try and hit him with his punches. All this was happening while Amy was still struggling in Giga Donkey Kong's hands. His grip was getting tighter from anger. It felt like she was slowly being smooshed between two narrow walls.

Yoshi was panicking on the rooftop. He was wondering what had happened to Sonic by now. "Oh no! He's probably a scrambled egg on the street. What am I going to say to the others?" He looked down onto the streets. He suddenly saw a blue blur pass by the building. It turned back and suddenly it started going _up _the building. The blur reached the rooftop part Yoshi was on. It was none other than Sonic. Yoshi was relieved. "Oh! Thanks goodness you're alive!"

"Come on, I just fell was all." Sonic joked to him. He looked up to Giga Donkey Kong. He shouted at him. "You're not going to be up there anytime soon, big guy."

Giga Donkey Kong looked down to Sonic and roared at him. The others had no idea what Sonic was up to. The hedgehog himself was taunting Giga Donkey Kong. He wiggled his finger and tsked at him. Giga Donkey Kong was going to throw a punch at him when suddenly Knuckles shot up from the building side. He soared through the air and gave out a loud yell. He flew towards Giga Donkey Kong and threw a powerful punch on his forehead.

Everyone, except Sonic, was surprised from what just happened. The punch caused Giga Donkey Kong to lose grip on both the tall pole he held on and Amy. Sonic quickly jumped into the air and caught Amy, landing safely on the rooftop. Giga Donkey Kong began to fall backwards off the Empire Shroom Building, giving out a defeat roar at the same time.

Taking the opportunity, Mario took out the Poison Mushroom and threw it into Giga Donkey Kong's open mouth. He swallowed it, causing the effects of the "power-up" to begin. His began to shrink back to his normal size. Unexpectedly, Giga Donkey Kong's fur changed back to the normal brown it was. His eyes turned back to normal.

He was back to regular old Donkey Kong!

"Gwaaaaah!" Donkey Kong shouted. He began falling down the side of the Empire Shroom Building. Quickly reacting, Diddy Kong swooped down with his barrel jet packs and caught Donkey Kong. He carried both of them back onto the rooftop of the Empire Shroom Building, reuniting with the rest of the others. They were all tuckered out.

"Gee, that was tiring..." Tails began to complain. It took him awhile to notice Knuckles was with them. "Wait a minute...is that? No way! Knuckles!" He quickly ran up to him, awestruck to see his friend standing right in front of him. The two exchanged high-fives, happy to see each other again.

Amy was just as surprised as Tails. She poked him, making sure it really was him. "Oh my, it really_ is_ Knuckles! I can't believe you're here!" Knuckles simply gave an embarrassed grin and scratched the back of his head. Even he was glad to see Amy.

Yoshi carefully stared at Knuckles. He suddenly pointed at him and began chuckling."Heheheh, you're hair looks funny!"

"HUH! WHAT DID HE SAY?" Knuckles yelled out, offended by Yoshi's comment. Yoshi was scared from Knuckles's rage and immediately hid himself behind Mario. Sonic quickly calmed him down.

"Relax, Knuckles." Sonic said to him. He introduced him to Mario and Yoshi. "These are a few friends of mine. The one in the blue overalls is Mario and the green dinosaur hiding behind him is Yoshi. They were kind enough to help us in_ their_ world."

Knuckles slowly calmed down. He relaxed and shook hands with the both of them. "Hi, it's nice to meet you guys. I'm Knuckles, one of Sonic's friends." Mario was happy to meet another one of Sonic's friends, while Yoshi was still a little terrified of him.

"Wait a minute..." Knuckles turned to Sonic with a confused look. "Just right now, you said these guys were _kind enough to help us in their world_. What the heck does that mean?" Sonic told him that they were not in their world anymore and in fact were in Mario's world now. Knuckles's eyes slowly grew wide-open. "W-w-we're in a _different_ world now?" It took him a while for the news to sink in. He sat down, trying to calm himself down yet again. Sonic, Tails and Amy decided to explain what had been happening ever since they left their world.

Meanwhile, Diddy Kong carefully laid Donkey Kong's body on the rooftop. He gorilla had a noticeable bruise on his forehead from Knuckles's punch. At that moment, he was unconscious. Mario and Yoshi walked up to them, hoping Donkey Kong was still okay.

"What will happen to him now?" Diddy Kong asked them. Donkey Kong had just swallowed the Poison Mushroom. Sure, it reversed the effects of the shadow figure's spell, but what else could it have done?

Mario kneeled beside Diddy Kong and put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm-a sure that he'll be okay." Suddenly, as if on cue, Donkey Kong started regaining consciousness. He was a bit lightheaded, but other than that, he was completely fine.

"Ugh...what happened..." Donkey Kong asked them. He covered his forehead with his hand, feeling the bruise. "Hey, why do I have a bruise on my head?" He looked around, seeing that they were on the Empire Shroom Building. "What the-how did we get here?" Diddy Kong hopped up and down in joy, glad that Donkey Kong was alright. Mario took the time to explain to him what just happened. The ape slowly rubbed his head, awestruck to realize what had happened. "Wow...that's...crazy."

By this time, Sonic and the others had finished explaining what happened to them to Knuckles. He slowly nodded his head, somewhat understanding the situation. "I see now. So _that's _what happened to you guys. It's good to at least know you guys are alright. Me and the others back at our world were worried sick about you guys."

"The others..." Sonic repeated. He wondered how well the others were handling this situation. He, Tails and Amy were beginning to miss their friends. But to see Knuckles once again still made them happy. Sonic slowly crossed his arms, raising a curious brow to Knuckles. "Well, we've told you _our _story. Why don't you explain how you were able to get here?"

Knuckles face suddenly turned serious. He looked down to his feet. He seemed to be upset. "I'll tell you how I got here, but you probably won't believe this." His friends drew in closer to him, curious about his story.

"You see, it was just another peaceful night. I was at the Master Emerald shrine back at Angel Island when something unexpected happened. This shadowy figure popped out of nowhere and began to attack me. I tried to fight back, but he began shooting this weird spells at me. When I was down on the ground, he came upon the Master Emerald. Suddenly, this huge black portal appeared behind them and sucked in the Master Emerald! That shadow figure entered it, but before the portal closed, I jumped in, expecting to follow that shadow figure. Instead, I found myself in this weird palace in the middle of the desert with this ugly, fat mustached man and his bone-legged friend. Hehe, I was surprised for a bit and ran out of this place. Then I came here where you guys are."

Sonic and the others seemed to understand the story. But one thing bothered them. Tails spoke up. "Wait, you said a shadowy figure attacked yo and took the Master Emerald, right?" Knuckles nodded to them. Tails suddenly began to worry. Amy asked him what was wrong. "This isn't good. If that shadow figure Knuckles encountered was the same shadow figure we've been fighting all this time, then it has the Master Emerald! Do you know what this means? It could use it's power against us!"

Sonic and his friends realized the true danger the shadow figure had. They realized it wanted to get stronger. This was becoming a bigger problem to them. Mario and the others weren't exactly sure what they were talking about.

The heroes soon climbed back down from the Empire Shroom Building. They would meet back with Princess Peach and Toadette back at the Flower Concert Hall. For now, everything was okay. The heroes would take a deserved rest back home.

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..

...

_To be continued!_

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**The Mushroom City is safe once again, thanks to the heroes! Donkey Kong is back to normal, while Sonic and his friends have finally reunited with Knuckles the Echidna! But now, they know the Master Emerald has been stolen by none other than the shadow figure! What will they do now? Stay tuned next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

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_**Author Notes: Chapter complete! It felt pretty great to finally add in another Sonic character into the story! For me, Knuckles is one of my favorite characters in the Sonic franchise. It would be great if SEGA implemented him more into Sonic video games. **_

_**It's obvious that this chapter is a homage to the movie King Kong, where the humongous gorilla (Giga Donkey Kong) captures the damsel-in-distress (Amy Rose) and climbs high onto the top of a skyscraper (Empire Shroom Building) and fights the heroes upon it. **_

_**I kind of think it's ironic that Giga Donkey Kong would take Amy Rose as his hostage. I mean, the first time they had met, Donkey Kong was there to SAVE her, not THREATEN her.**_

**_I added in another Mario power-up into the story. The Poison Mushroom! If you don't know, it originated from Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels for the original NES. If a player touches it, it can either shrink them to Small Mario, or if they already are Small Mario, it can instantly kill them._**

**_ Don't ask me why Toadette had a Poison Mushroom in the first place. _**

**_I'd add more to this chapter, but it's already long enough. Parts of what was supposed to be in this chapter will be moved onto the next chapter. I just have so much story I want to tell, but I can only fit so much onto one single chapter. _**

**_Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for taking the time to read it. Make sure to come back next week to read the next chapter! Thank you for everyone who has been supporting me, (unlike others, you know who you are ;P) _**

**_Bye for now! :D_**

**__****__************-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	37. Back to Normal!

**Mario And Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 37_****_: Back to Normal!_**

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**_Toad Town, Princess Peach's Castle_**

It was late at night by the time our heroes arrived back at Peach's Castle. They were all exhausted from the events at Mushroom City. After Sonic and his friends introduced Knuckles to both Princess Peach and Toadette, the Kongs had bid them another farewell and headed back to Congo Jungle to rest. The heroes soon took a ride on the Chop Chop Helicopter and now there they were in the castle gardens, climbing off the helicopter.

"I'm telling you Knuckles, you're going to feel like royalty when you relax in the castle's bed." Sonic was assuring Knuckles, explaining to him the many luxuries the castle had to offer them. The echidna couldn't wait to relax after everything he had been through.

Princess Peach was more than happy to have another friend of the heroes stay at her castle. "I'm sure you're going to feel quite at home, Knuckles."

"Heh, unless you make me protect a gigantic jewel on top of a shrine, I doubt I'll feel like home." Knuckles joked. He then remembered the Master Emerald being stolen from the evil shadow figure. He punched the palm of his left hand with his fist. "Grrrrr, I'm going to clobber that shadow figure into badnik bits the next time I see it!"

Sonic calmed the echidna down. "Relax, buddy. You'll get the chance soon enough." Knowing the shadow figure, it was probably searching for them for the tenth time. Sooner or later they were going encounter each other once more. "We're going to do whatever we can to take back the Master Emerald."

While the heroes were walking to the castle's back doors, Yoshi continued to stare at Knuckles's hair. Sensing this, Knuckles turned back and glared at Yoshi. The dinosaur yelped and quickly hid behind Mario's back. Knuckles simply gave an annoyed look and continued walking. Mario comforted Yoshi. "Don't worry, I'm sure you two will be good friends soon enough. It'll just take some time."

The heroes soon reached the back doors of the castle. Toadsworth was there waiting for them. He waved his cane at them, greeting them. "Welcome back, old chaps! Am I extraordinarily glad you're all okay. I was just told what previously happened at Mushroom City." He quickly noticed Knuckles, who was staring at him weirdly. "Hm! Who might this be?" Sonic introduced Toadsworth to him. "My, what an honour to meet you. I am Toadsworth, the trusty advisor of Princess Peach."

"Why do this guy have a mushroom on his head?" Knuckles whispered to Sonic. He simply shrugged and told him it must be their custom to wear shroom caps on their head. After all, this _was _the Mushroom Kingdom.

Toadsworth suddenly walked up to Peach. He began asking her if she was alright, then proceeded to tell her about some very good news. Peach was joyful to hear it. "That's wonderful!" She turned to the heroes, about to explain the good news. "I have wonderful news everyone. The Magikoopa we called over had just finished the spell and it worked. Luigi is back to normal!"

The heroes were delighted to hear the news, especially Mario and Yoshi. Knuckles had no clue what they were talking about and just gave a confused look. They soon rushed to the princess's bedroom where Luigi was. He was sleeping peacefully in the bed, his body back to his normal form. The friendly Magikoopa was at the side of the bed, watching over him carefully for any side-effects that could happen from the spell. Unlike regular Magikoopas, this one wore a white robe with an orange triangular trim design.

Mario saw his brother and couldn't believe he was back to normal. It had been awhile since he'd seen him in his regular body. He rushed to the side of the bed, along with Yoshi and kneeled beside him, talking calmly to his brother. "Hey, Luigi. It's-a me, your brother Mario."

Hearing his voice, Luigi slowly opened his eyes and turned towards Mario and Yoshi, giving them a gentle smile. "Hi guys. How's it going?" Mario smiled back at him, happy to see Luigi okay. Yoshi cheered in glee and began licked Luigi's face like an overjoyed puppy. Luigi chuckled. "Haha! I missed you too, Yoshi."

Knuckles nudged Sonic in the shoulder and whispered to him. "Yo, that Mario and Luigi guy look kind of the same. Isn't that weird?" Sonic explained to Knuckles that the two were brothers, almost twins to be exact. Sonic quickly introduced Knuckles to Luigi. "Uhm, hey! What's up? I'm one of Sonic's friends."

"Nice to meet you, I'm-a Luigi." the plumber introduced himself. Mario explained to him how Knuckles was able to enter their world. Luigi was amazed. "Wow, really? This Master Emerald got stolen? And by the shadow figure? Gee, things are getting serious." He tried to get out of his bed, but his back still felt quite sore.

"Do not do that," the Magikoopa told him. He began to explain that Luigi should take it easy for the next couple of days as they wouldn't want any terrible side-effects from the healing spell to happen. Luigi agreed to stay in bed for the next few days.

Luigi turned to the heroes, asking them if they had retrieved the next Power Star. The heroes were surprised he couldn't remember them finding the Power Star back at Sherbet Mountains and fighting him as a robot. Luigi told them the only thing he remembered was the shadow figure turning him into a robot, nothing else after that. Mario took out the Power Star and showed it to Luigi. It sparkled brightly into his hands.

"Nice going guys." Luigi praised them. He asked them if they were going to give the Power Star to Gadd right now. The others had totally forgotten about giving it to the professor, due to the crazy events that just happened. Mario and Sonic decided to volunteer to go to Boo Woods and deliver the Power Star, while the others would relax in the castle for a bit. As the two were about to leave, Toadsworth reminded the heroes about something.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Toadsworth exclaimed. He told all the heroes that the Lookout Toad found where the next Power Star landed. Strangely enough, instead of landing in the soil of the Mushroom Kingdom, this Power Star landed somewhere in the sky! The next Power Star landed inside the Rainbow Castle!

"The Rainbow Castle? Where is that?" Tails asked Toadsworth. He old advisor explained that Rainbow Castle was a gigantic, magical castle that floated high in the clouds. Endless amount of rainbows could be seen circling around the castle. It was surely a beautiful sight you would see.

"A castle in the sky, hmm?" Sonic said, unsure of how to react to such a weird setting. "That sounds like something from a fairytale book. I guess it's better than in the cold caverns of a mountain."

Mario and Sonic quickly left Peach's Castle and were on their way to Gadd's Garage in Boo Woods. They wondered if this Power Star would be their key to send Sonic and his friends back to their dimension. But then if they could, what about the Master Emerald?

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Laboratory Room_**

It was a terribly hot night in Bowser's Castle. No matter what time of day it was, it would always be scorching in the castle walls, since the castle itself stood right in the middle of a volcano!

Inside the Laboratory Room, Eggman was putting the last finishing touches to his and Bowser's ultimate "doomsday" machine. It was very tall in size, almost reaching the roof of the laboratory. Bowser walked in, awestruck to the size of the machine. It was still covered under a large blanket, but Bowser could definitely see the time and dedication that was put into it. "Great goomba! This machine looks huge!"

Eggman crawled out from under the machine's blanket, his clothes were covered in soot. He set aside the wrench he was using onto the workbench beside him. Eggman patted the machine, quite proud of his work. "Once I'm finished, this machine will be unstoppable! Not even Sonic and Mario could stop us. With my careful designing, _my_ doomsday machine has the power to plow through a whole city, leaving nothing but debris behind!"

Bowser raised an eyebrow at Eggman. "Uhm, if I wasn't mistaken, this was _my _doomsday machine! After all, it was made with _my _equipment and _my _material that me and my army found for you!"

Eggman was offended by his remark. "Well, I didn't see _you _putting any careful constructing or effort into making this machine! All this time, _you _were simply pacing around the castle doing absolutely _nothing_ whatsoever!

"Are you trying to provoke me in my own castle?" Bowser growled at him. He was starting to become angry. Eggman realized the situation he was in and immediately back down.

"Oh, of course not!" Eggman tried to assure him. He calmed Bowser down. "I was making some very _dumbfounded_ remarks. I don't even know what I was thinking when I said those. I can act like an _egghead_ sometimes! Honestly!"

Bowser glared at him with fierce eyes. He slowly calmed down, deciding to take word of Eggman's statement. "You best be true to your words, Eggman. It's not wise to anger ferocious-old me." Eggman quickly nodded, relieved that he wasn't burn to a crisp by Bowser. The koopa king looked up to the "doomsday" machine, wondering how it actually worked. "Just a thought, Eggman. How are we going to power up this doomsday machine? We haven't come up with any power source."

Eggman thought about it carefully. "Well, due to the size of the machine, I'm certain we need something that has an immense amount of power. Any suggestions?"

Bowser quickly thought about what they could use to power up their doomsday machine. "I've got the solution! We'll use the energy of a Power Star!" Bowser explained to Eggman that a Power Star had unlimited power that could grant anyone great strength, power, speed and energy. Eggman liked the idea. He asked where they could find one at this time. "Well, I remember that every night, you can see a Power Star fall from the sky and find out where it lands. I'm not sure if we can get one tonight, but tomorrow we most certainly can." He exited out of the laboratory, finding a soldier of his army to lookout to the sky and see where a Power Star could land.

Eggman went back to working on their "doomsday" machine. They were almost complete. Soon, they would begin their journey to defeating their long-time nemesis once and for all!

* * *

**_Boo Woods, Gadd's Garage_**

Both Mario and Sonic had just arrived inside Gadd's Garage. They entered the workshop room, finding Professor Gadd working on a gadget on his desk. The professor greeted them and invited them in. "Aah! Welcome back Mario and Sonic. Where might the others be right now?"

"They're back at Peach's Castle," Sonic answered. He began to explain the adventures they had been through recently, how they explored through the ice caverns of Sherbet Mountains, fought a huge, mind-controlled gorilla in the hustling, bustling Mushroom City and how they reunited with their longtime friend, Knuckles. Gadd was amazed by their recent journey, especially the part about Knuckles.

"My, so much you heroes have gone through." Gadd said. "It reminds me of my youth days. Good times." He soon asked them why they had come here. Mario showed him the Power Star they found. Knowing what to do, Gadd led them into the room where the Dimension Teleportificationtron was. He quickly stuck the Power Star into the power slot and activated the machine. The machine made it's starting sound. The lightbulb on top began to flicker. It seemed like the machine was going to work! But as usual, malfunctioning noises were head from the inside. Not wanting to risk any explosions, Gadd shut off the machine. The light bulb on the machine shut off. Gadd read the screen on the control panel, wondering how much energy the machine had. It showed 71%.

Sonic shook his head. "Great, we need _more _Power Stars." He crossed his arms in frustration. He wondered how many more Power Stars they would need to return to _his world_. Mario tried to cheer him up, saying they were getting closer to their goal.

"I'm sure that with your teamwork, you'll find the remaining Power Stars needed in no time." Gadd told the two. He quickly remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot. I have something to return to you." He led them out of the Dimension Teleportificationtron room and back into his workshop room. He picked up the gadget he was working on and gave it to Sonic. It was the Gadd DS Horror! Gadd had been able to fix it, even designing it into a more sleeker and thinner design. Gadd had installed more features onto the gadget, such as 3D holographic menus that would pop out of the screen and a much stronger Power Star Finder. Gadd told them he renamed the DS Horror to the "3DS" Horror, due to it's new 3D capabilities.

"Thanks Professor Gadd." Sonic said to him, giving the 3DS Horror to Mario to keep in his pocket for now. "I'm sure Tails will be glad to get it back." Gadd was happy to hear that. He then asked them where the next Power Star was going to be. Mario answered, telling him it was in the Rainbow Castle.

"The Rainbow Castle? Why, I've heard of that place before." Gadd said. He suddenly thought of something that would help the heroes in their search for the next Power Star. He opened up a drawer and took out a red exclamation block. He handed it Mario, telling him this would help them in their search for the Power Star. Mario took the block, thanking him. Although, he wasn't sure what was inside it.

The heroes said goodbye to Gadd and headed back to Toad Town. They would rest up and prepare for another Power Star search tomorrow. They hoped that this time, it would be much easier for them.

* * *

**__****_Congo Jungle, DK's Treehouse_**

It was a peaceful night in Congo Jungle. You could hear the sound of the rivers flowing and the noise of the wildlife. Both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were inside the their treehouse, preparing to go to bed.

Donkey Kong was sitting on his wooden chair, relaxing. His bruise that Knuckles made when he punched him in the forehead slowly began to heal. The ape still couldn't believe the shadow figure was able to take over his mind and turn him into a large, mutant behemoth. "Man, the next time I see that shadow figure, I'm going to pummel him like I would do to a Kremling."

"Come on, big guy! Don't worry about it anymore." Diddy Kong comforted him. He was having a late-night snack of banana bread. "The good thing is, your fine. I'm sure the shadow figure won't harm us again in a long time!"

Donkey Kong nodded to him. All he wanted to do was relax and not think about the shadow figure. He began to think about swinging in the trees the next morning. That always cheered him up. Suddenly, Donkey Kong felt a growing pain in his stomach. He put his hands onto his stomach, unsure of what was happening. The next thing he knew, he was coughing. Diddy Kong asked him if he was alright, but the ape couldn't answer as he began coughing continuously, non-stop. He climbed off his wooden chair and kneeled on the floor as the pain grew more severe. His coughing became worse. Diddy Kong began to panic, not sure what do do. He feared something bad was going to happen again.

Suddenly, Donkey Kong coughed out an object. It flew out of his mouth and bounced against the wall and landed onto the floor. The pain in Donkey Kong managed to stop. He breathed heavily as looked looked at the object. He was surprised to what it was and picked it up, inspecting it carefully in his hands. The object was a silver, glowing emerald. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong looked at each other, wondering how _that _got into Donkey Kong's stomach.

"Weird." Donkey Kong simply said. He decided to keep the emerald in their treehouse. He placed it carefully on his shelf and admired it's soothing glow. "You know, we could keep it as our own treasure. We do deserve one after all." Diddy Kong agreed. He hopped up and down, happy that to have their own piece of treasure. The Kong's quickly got into their beds for a well-deserved rest.

But unaware to them, they had just completed the next step for the evil shadow figure. This plan was almost complete. Once it was done, great havoc would be sure to ensue.

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..

...

_To be continued!_

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**Donkey Kong is now in possession of one of the seven Chaos Emerald! Who will be the next Star Children to obtain their emerald? And will the heroes succeed in retrieving the next Power Star in the magical Rainbow Castle? Will Bowser and Eggman complete their "doomsday" machine? Tun in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

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_**Author Notes: Chapter complete! This actually took a short amount of time to finish and I'm happy about that. Nothing really action-packed happened in this chapter as it was only a preparation for what's to happen in the next two chapters. I'll tell you this, something totally shocking will happen in the upcoming chapters. Make sure you read them when they come out! ;)**_

_**Hurray! Luigi is back! It was almost 6 chapters ago (The Minion) that we had seen him in his regular body. **_

**_I had to make introductions for Knuckles meeting the other characters. You can say that he and Yoshi have somewhat of a "rocky" relationship going on. But that will change soon enough. _**

**_Wow, I just realized that I haven't mentioned Amy in this chapter not even once! :( This is what I get for having so much important characters into the story. I'm going to have to find a balance of dialogue and roles for each of them next time._**

**_The Magikoopa that heals Luigi is very well the same one from Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. He's the one who brainwashes Luigi into thinking he is Mario. Read the description of him if you don't believe me._**

**_Hmm, I wonder what's inside the red exclamation block that Mario has? Do you remember what comes out of that certain block? And yay! The Gadd DS Horror returns after 9 chapters! Last time we saw it was in Tentacle Wrangle! And it seems to have some significant upgrades. It's pretty obvious now that it's based off the Nintendo 3DS. *Fun fact* I am a proud owner of one. :D_**

**_Looks like Bowser and Eggman are starting to get on each other's nerves. Could this mean something? Well, at least they're almost done the "doomsday" machine. I wonder what it looks like. LOL. Don't worry guys, we're getting much closer to the unveiling. _**

**_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Thanks for everyone's support and be sure to come back next week to read the next chapter! Go to my profile page for updates on my stories. :D _**

**_Oh yes, if you're interested, I have updated my avatar on my profile. I think it looks pretty cool. If you want, tell me what you think about it. :)_**

**_P.S. I forgot to mention this last week, but this story has reached 20,000 hits! Amazing right? All thanks to you guys. You are the best!_**

**_Bye for now!_**

**__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	38. Rainbow Skies!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite**

_**Chapter 38: Rainbow Skies!**_

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**_Somewhere in the skies of Mushroom Kingdom_**

It was an extravagant day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun shone brightly throughout the land. Our heroes were on yet another adventure to find the Power Stars that would help Sonic and his friends return to their dimension. But this time, their adventure was not on land. Instead, their destination was high above the clouds!

Our heroes sailed through the sea of clouds in a hot-air balloon, which was lent by Princess Peach. The balloon was a pink color and the front design was a big, white circle with a crown on the inside. Our heroes were heading off to the mystical Rainbow Castle. They weren't sure what to expect.

For this adventure, Luigi couldn't join them due to his condition of just recovering from a powerful healing spell. He stayed in bed at Princess Peach's Castle. He was disappointed he couldn't come with the heroes, but understood that this was for his own good.

Knuckles was looking over the side of the hot-air balloon, staring out at the clouds. He had two things on his mind. First, he felt embarrassed riding in a pink hot-air balloon. Second, he was wondering where the Master Emerald was and what could the shadow figure be using it for. Sonic saw the troubled look on his face. "Hey Knux, what seems to be on your mind." Knuckles didn't answer him, only giving him a shout growl. "Whoa buddy. Try to calm down, I mean we're sailing through the clouds in a hot-air balloon! What more could relax you?"

"You just don't get it, Sonic." Knuckles said to him, shaking his head. "Don't you remember how I got here? It's because that stupid shadow figure stole the Master Emerald from me! As the guardian of the Master Emerald, I should be searching for it right now."

Sonic patted his friends back, trying to comfort him. "I know you're worried, but try to relax. I mean, this isn't the first time you lost the Master Emerald, remember?" Knuckles glared at him, telling him not to remind him. "All I'm saying is, you'll get the Master Emerald back. And knowing the shadow figure, this is our best bet in finding where he's tucking it around. He'll come to _us_."

"You better be right about this, Sonic." Knuckles said, ending the conversation. He continued to stare out at the clouds.

Meanwhile, Mario was sitting in the opposite corner of the hot-air balloon's basket. He was inspecting the red exclamation block he had in his hands, trying to remember what power-up came out from it. Tails saw him and asked what was in his hands. "It's-a block that Professor Gadd gave to me last night. He told me inside was a power-up that would greatly help me in our journey to find the next Power Star." Mario answered. The plumber was really curious what was inside.

Suddenly, Yoshi spat out his tongue and grabbed the block out of his hand. He began juggling it around in his hands. "I say we should open it right now!" Mario quickly swiped the block back. He told the dinosaur he didn't want to open it yet, in case it was a _really_ rare power-up.

"Uhm guys," Amy called to get their attention. "What is that over there?" She pointed in front of her. Far off in the distance behind a wall of clouds was some sort of structure. It appeared to be a tower of a castle. As the group sailed closer to it, they realized what it was. It was Rainbow Castle!

The Rainbow Castle look beautiful in the sunlight. It was a gigantic castle, the kind that you would find in a fairy tale. The castle floated on a large island. It had lush green grass growing around it. The castle had large moat around it with clear blue water that sparkled in the sunlight. The castle walls were painted white, while the roofs of the towers were a crimson red. There were fancy rainbows that surrounded the island and castle. It looked like paradise.

"Whoa! This place looks amazing!" Tails exclaimed. Everyone nodded in agreement. No other words could describe how they felt about the Rainbow Castle. They soon steered the hot-air balloon onto the island of the Rainbows Castle. The hot air-balloon landed softly on the grass. The heroes climbed out and headed towards the Rainbow Castle while Mario tied the hot-air balloon onto a nearby boulder stuck in the ground.

"So the Power Star is somewhere in this castle." Sonic said, reminding the heroes of their objective. He stared at the colossal castle, wondering where they should start first. There were so many towers and rooms they could search in, it would take them a decade to find the Power Star. He turned to Tails, wondering what ideas he had.

"Don't you guys remember what I have?" Tails soon grabbed out the Gadd 3DS Horror out of his pocket. Sonic remembered he had gave it to him earlier this morning before they left. Gadd had fixed it for them. Tails powered up the gadget and switched to the "Power Star Locator" app. It suddenly gained signal of where the Power Star was. Tails gave a dismayed look. The radar told them the Power Star was in the castle's _highest _tower.

Yoshi whined. "Awww, does that mean we have to climb _all _the way up there?" The heroes nodded to him. The dinosaur sighed. He wasn't sure if he wanted to take a _long_ climb up to the Power Star. It would be boring to him.

The heroes walked across the drawbridge to the entrance of Rainbow Castle. They entered the castle, finding themselves in the large foyer of the castle. There were two flights of stairs that led to the same floor, which lead to other rooms of the castle. The heroes weren't sure where to start.

"Hmm...eenie-meenie-minie-mo!" Sonic sang, pointing to the first doorway on top of the flight of stairs. They had no choice but to go through that doorway. They had no other choice.

The heroes climbed up the flight of stairs and entered the doorway. It led them through a long hallway. On the other end was another door. They entered through that one and found themselves in the castle's garden. It was located in the center of the castle. There was a whole bunch of roses, lilies, daffodils and violets that filled the area. There were tall, clean cut trees that stood out in the garden. In the middle of the garden was a large fountain with water spewing out of it. The sight amazed the heroes.

"Oh my!" Amy exclaimed, holding her hands together joyfully. "Is there a place in this castle where it _isn't _gorgeous?" She and the others could smell the aroma of the flowers from where they were. Taking the opportunity, she grabbed Sonic's hand and dragged him with her into the gardens. Sonic started shouting at her, telling her they were still on a Power Star search.

"Well, there goes those two lovehogs again." Knuckles joked. He and the others chuckled as they followed the two hedgehogs down into the gardens.

Sonic and Amy started walking through the castle gardens, heading towards the fountain in the middle. Amy had her head resting onto Sonic's right shoulder and her arm was wrapped around his. She was enjoying their moment together, while Sonic felt uncomfortable and the same time a bit nervous. "Amy...can you let me go now? We're here to find the Power Star if you forgot already."

"Sonic, can't you just relax for a few moments and enjoy the scenery with me?" Amy tried to convince him by using her sweetest, charming voice. But Sonic continued to fight back.

"Amy, we need to focus right now." Sonic told her. He quickly fought out of Amy's grasp and began to constantly remind her of what their mission was at the time. Amy puffed her cheeks in anger, then crossed her arms, angry at Sonic. She suddenly calmed herself down.

"Sonic," she began. Her tone was soft. "I know you _really _want to return home, but haven't you put any thought on what the others are thinking about this situation?" Sonic looked at her with a confused look.

"Uhm...what are you trying to say?" Sonic asked her. He was willing to understand her feelings.

"What I'm trying to tell you," Amy started to explain. "is that it doesn't really matter to me where we are right now. All that matters is that we're together with our friends, having fun. It seems that all _you _want to do is hurry back home so you can run off again."

Sonic couldn't believe what she was saying. "Are you telling me I'm only doing this so I can run off from you guys again? I'm only doing this because I thought this was what you guys wanted. To return home."

"I do," Amy said to him. But then she shook her head. "But that's not the point. The point is that once we leave, we'll never be able to see the friends we've made from this adventure." She turned back to the others, who just caught up with the two.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tails asked them. Sonic explained what he and Amy were conversing about. Tails quickly understood. "I see. I think I understand what Amy's trying to say. You're talking about how hard it will be when we have to leave this dimension. Which means we have to...leave our friends." He turned to Yoshi, who had a saddened look on his face. Tails felt really bad for him. He just realized the consequences of returning to their dimension. It meant they'd have to leave their new friends.

Knuckles just looked at them with confused looks. Because he didn't share the adventures with them, he couldn't feel the same emotions that they were feeling at the moment.

"You see Sonic, at first I _did_ want to return home." Amy resumed explaining. "But after the adventures we've gone through, the fun times we've shared with our new friends, I've just been overwhelmed by this emotion of not wanting to leave this world. And I'm sure that the rest of us are feeling the same way as well."

Sonic slowly began to understand her. He slowly nodded, assuring Amy he knew what she was talking about. "But Amy...this isn't our world. This isn't our true home. Eventually, we have to go back. Our other friends are back home as well. We can't just leave them, can't we?"

Mario understood the serious emotion the group was feeling right now. He carefully placed the red exclamation block he carried onto the ground and got the groups attention. "I know that we've had some very fun times with each other in the past days. We should just be lucky we've had the chance to meet each other, even under the serious predicaments we are in right now. I know that once Sonic and his friends leave, we'll all feel mournful about it. But once that time comes, don't be sad that it's all over, be happy it happened. We should cherish these moments we have with each other."

The others understood what Mario tried to tell them. They should be happy they met each other and had the opportunity to share wonderful journeys. Knuckles began to clap slowly, trying to brighten the mood. "What an _amazing _speech! Bravo!"

Sonic grinned at him, then gently punched him on the shoulder. "Come on, Knux! Wouldn't you be sad if you had to leave your friends?"

"Believe me, when I found out you guys had suddenly disappeared, I was _heartbroken." _Knuckles said in a sarcastic voice. He began to walk around the garden, as it reminded him a little bit of the Sky Sanctuary area back at Angel Island.

"You know, I'm going to miss you guys when you have to return to your dimension," Yoshi told Tails. "But I guess I'll still be happy I met you." Tails smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder. He was also happy they met each other.

"So, you think you'll be okay until we have to return home?" Sonic asked Amy. She nodded at him. Unexpectedly, Sonic put a hand on her shoulder. "And if this cheers you up, you'll still have _me _to chase around when we get back home." He quickly walked away, leaving Amy stunned but at the same time delighted from his action.

"Thanks, Mario." Sonic told the plumber. "You know, you're a really good friend. I'm gonna miss you and the others when we have leave." Mario sighed sadly when he said that, but quickly cheered up. He was happy they got the chance to become friends.

After taking a small break in Rainbow Castle's gardens, the heroes resumed on their Power Star search. They exited the gardens, entering another long hallway in the castle. They continued their walk to the highest tower of the Rainbow Castle, exploring through countless rooms of the castle and climbing up endless flights of stairs.

Right now, the heroes had reached a room that had a tall flight of spiral stairs, leading up to the room where they thought the Power Star was. They all looked up, awestruck to how much stairs there were.

"Are you telling me we have to climb up _all _that?" Knuckles complained, pointing at the staircase. He began to shake his head, not wanting to climb up more stairs. "You know what, I think I'll sit this one out. I'll stay here while you guys retrieve the Power Star." He sat down on the floor, and waited for them to start climbing up.

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Gee, I thought you were the toughest echidna we've ever known! Not being able to climb up just a few steps? I'm having second thoughts about your strength, knucklehead!" Sonic grinned and waited for Knuckles's reaction.

Sure enough, Knuckles blew his top off. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!" His face was steaming with anger. The others were kind of terrified from his tantrum. The echidna pointed at Sonic, who was getting a kick out of Knuckles's reaction. "GRR! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S TOUGH! NOTHING CAN STOP ME!" Suddenly, Knuckles began to sprint up the spiraling staircase. Sonic looked back at the others and winked at them. They began to follow Knuckles up the stairs.

Just as the heroes were halfway up the stairs, they were stopped by a loud rumbling throughout the castle. They kept their balance on the stairways. The rumbling stopped. The heroes looked at each other, wondering what caused the rumbling. Suddenly, a shadowy purple mist appeared in front of the heroes. The mist soon disappeared, revealing the shadow figure in their presence.

"_I have...finally found you!" _the shadow figure snarled at them, pointing it's shadow paintbrush at them. The heroes were not happy to see the shadow figure, especially Knuckles. He already developed a hatred for it.

"YOU!" Knuckles growled at the shadow figure, clenching his fist. "Give me back the Master Emerald! It doesn't belong to you! It belongs in the shrine back at Angel Island!"

"_Oh...you mean...this Master Emerald?" _the shadow figure waved around it's shadow paintbrush in the air. Suddenly, the Master Emerald appeared, floating beside the shadow figure. It rubbed it's hand on the emeralds surface. "_If you want it so badly, fight me!"_ the shadow figure's bright, yellow eyes suddenly turned red. The Master Emerald disappeared out of thin air and the shadow figure quickly threw a shadow lightning bolt at the heroes. The heroes jumped out of the way, dodging the attack. The bolt crashed into the stairway, destroying part of the stairs.

Sonic quickly came up with a plan. He turned to Tails. "Tails! You, Yoshi and Amy run up to the top of the tower and get the Power Star! Me, Mario and Knuckles will distract the shadow figure for you!" Tails nodded to Sonic. First, they had to get past the shadow figure who blocked their way.

"GIMME THE MASTER EMERALD!" Knuckles shouted at the shadow figure. He quickly jumped towards the floating figure and threw a punch directly in it's stomach. Surprisingly, the punch landed, causing the shadow figure to fly back and crash into the wall. Taking the opportunity, Tails grabbed both Amy and Yoshi's hand and flew them up the spiraling staircase, up to the Power Star room.

The shadow figure slowly floated back into the air, shaking off the punch as if it was nothing. He pointed it's shadow paintbrush at Knuckles, glaring at him with it's red, glowing eyes. "_I thought I got rid of you back at Angel Island! No matter, both you and Sonic won't be leaving this castle alive!" _The shadow figure charged up a shadow ball attack and shot it at the trio. They all dodged it, causing the shadow ball to crash into the nearby wall of the staircase. It created a gaping hole from where it hit.

Sonic immediately ran up the staircase, jumped and initiated a Homing Attack at the shadow figure. Quickly reacting, the shadow figure swatted Sonic back with it's shadow paintbrush, causing Sonic to fly back and bump into Mario. The force was so strong that it caused Mario to fly back and fall through the hole in the wall! Sonic shouted for him. "Mario! No!"

Mario began falling down the side of the castle's tallest tower. He started yelling, thinking this was the end for him. Suddenly, he remembered something. The red exclamation block! He still held it in his hands. Gadd's words echoed in his mind, telling him this would help him when the time is right. _Well, that-a time is now! _Mario immediately though. Quickly, he bashed the block open with his bare hands. It crushed open, revealing what the power-up was. It was the Wing Cap! It looked exactly the same as his hat, except two white wings sprouted on the top.

Knowing what to do, Mario took off his hat and put on the Wing Cap. He backflipped in the air and let the power-up do it's magic. Mario's descent began to slow down and he started to fly back up. The wings on the Wing Cap flapped as hard as they could, flying Mario back to where the others were fighting.

Back in the tower, Sonic and Knuckles continued fighting against the shadow figure. Sonic used his Homing Attacks while Knuckles tried to land an uppercut on it. The shadow figure continued to shoot a barrage of violent magic spells at them. Their fighting gradually destroyed parts of the castle's tower.

"Man, this shadow figure just won't stop!" Knuckles yelled out to Sonic. He dodged another lightning bolt spell from the shadow figure. He quickly ran up below it and initiated a powerful uppercut, but the shadow figure quickly teleported a few feet away and shot a spell at the echidna, knocking him down a few flights of stairs.

_"I won't be foolish enough to let you strike me down twice!" _the shadow figure said viciously at them. It pointed it's shadow paintbrush at them, about to shoot another spell at them when Mario flew back into the tower. He did a quick front flip and kicked the shadow figure with both his feet. The shadow figure flew back and crashed into the flight of stairs, momentarily dazed.

"Whoa! Nice one, Mario!" Sonic said, giving him a thumbs up.

Knuckles noticed the wings on top of his cap. "What the-where'd you get those?" Before Mario could answer him, the shadow figure quickly got up and suddenly teleported away from them.

"Hah! Running away like a scared Flicky now, ey?" Knuckles taunted at the shadow figure. He began to look around him, noticing the damage they made in the tower. Parts of the walls were cracked and some had holes in them. Some of the stairs were broken away from their fighting. "Gee, this castle doesn't look that elegant anymore."

_Hmm, I wonder where that shadow figure ran off to._ Sonic thought. He gasped, realizing where it could be going next. "Oh no! The others!" Sonic quickly ran up the flight of stairs at super fast speeds. Knuckles and Mario quickly followed him to the top of the castle's tower.

* * *

"We finally made it!" Tails exclaimed to the others. He, Amy and Yoshi made it to the top of the staircase of the tower. In front of them was the door to the room where the Power Star crashed inside.

Yoshi quickly rushed to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Amy told him to stand back. "Allow me." She suddenly took out her Piko Piko Hammer and smashed down the door. It fell down onto the floor with a loud thud. Yoshi gave her a thumbs up, then entered the room.

The tower's room was quite large. It was in a hexagonal shape. Opposite to them were three tall stained glass windows. Each window had a colorful design on them. The middle window had the design of a Star, the left window had the design of a Mushroom and the right window had the design of a Fire Flower. The sunlight shone into the room.

"Where's the Power Star?" Yoshi asked the others. They looked around, not seeing any sign of the Power Star. Suddenly, Tails pointed up to the ceiling. There, stuck in a crack, was the Power Star! It continued to gleam inside. Apparently, it could only crash into the roof.

"This is my job!" Tails exclaimed as he flew up into the air. He hovered under the Power Star and pulled on one of it's ends as hard as he could to remove it out of the crack. After much effort, Tails managed to free the Power Star out of the crack. He held it out for the others to see it.

"Good job Tails!" Amy congratulated him. She applauded to him. "Now hurry and bring it down to us. We have to help Sonic and the others back downstairs!" Tails nodded and was about to fly down to them when he was stopped by a spell that shot right in front of him, missing him. The heroes turned back to where the attack was shot from, and was terrified to see the shadow figure staring at them at the other side of the room.

"_I'm afraid you won't be leaving with that Power Star." _the shadow figure said to them in an intimidating voice. "_In fact, you won't be leaving this place at all. At least, not alive!" _the shadow figure suddenly shot out a paralyzing spell at both Tails and Amy. The both fell to the ground, not being able to move. Yoshi was surprised, as he didn't get hit by the spell. He watched in horror as the shadow figure picked up their bodies and tossed them aside near the windows. The shadow figure stared at Yoshi, who was frozen in shock. "_You're lucky I need you...Star Child!"_

"...w-what?" Yoshi dared to asked the shadow figure. Just then Sonic, Mario and Knuckles barged into the room, They immediately saw their friends in trouble.

The shadow figure pointed it's shadow paintbrush at Tails and Amy. They tried to move, but their bodies wouldn't let them. The shadow figure started to charge a massive shadow ball at them. "_If you dare to come any closer, I will shoot this powerful magic spell at them, which will surely end their lives!"_

The heroes didn't know what to do. It was either fight back and risk their friends lives, or stay and let the shadow figure escape. They had no choice. They had to stay. All hope seemed lost, but suddenly something amazing happened that turned the tide of battle.

Outside the middle stained glass window appeared to be something flying towards it. Due to the light, they could only see the shadow of it. The shadow flew closer and closer. It suddenly crashed through the window, causing shards to fly around the room. The shadow appeared to be a large, life-like raccoon. It flew towards the shadow figure and tackled it. The raccoon managed to take away it's shadow paintbrush and throw it to the heroes. The shadow figure tried to escape, but the raccoon swung it's tail at it and hit it's face with a powerful force. The shadow figure laid there, defeated.

The heroes looked up to the raccoon. Mario immediately recognized the raccoon. "Mamamia! Luigi! Is that you?"

The raccoon looked up to them and smiled. All this time it wasn't a raccoon, but instead it was Luigi in a Tanooki Suit. He gave a thumbs-up at the heroes and winked at them. "Hey guys!"

"Luigi!" Yoshi exclaimed and waved to him. "How did you get here?"

Luigi began to explain his story. After the heroes left for their journey to Rainbow Castle, he felt really disappointed he couldn't go with them. Seeing his dilemma, Peach asked him if he was one-hundred percent sure if he was fully healed from the robot spell. Luigi assured her he was. So Peach reluctantly let him follow the heroes, but not until giving him a power-up to aid him, which was the Tanooki Suit.

"Well, aren't we lucky. A guy in a raccoon suit saved us." Knuckles said. He put a hand on his forehead and shook it in disbelief. He quickly walked up to the fallen shadow figure, ready to ask it some questions. Sonic and Yoshi ran up to Tails and Amy's aid. The paralyzing spell had just worn off from them.

"Alright buddy! We can do this the hard way or the easy way," Knuckles growled at the shadow figure. He grabbed it's neck and aimed his other fist at the shadow figures face. "give me back the Master Emerald, or I'm about to turn you into a knuckle sandwich!" At first, the shadow figure refused to say anything. Already losing his patience, Knuckles threw a powerful punch on the shadow figures face. It greatly damaged it, but the shadow figure still did not say anything.

Mario watched as Knuckles continued to scream at the shadow figure when he noticed the shadow paintbrush began to flash a white light. He picked it up. Suddenly,the shadow paintbrush glowed all white. It reverted back to it's original form. Mario was surprised when he realized he was not holding the shadow paintbrush anymore, but what appeared to be a sort of scepter. The handle was all black, while the top of the scepter was shape in a "C". That part was colored purple and it had colorful jewels sticking on the side.

Tails saw what was now in Mario's hand and quickly told Sonic about it. Sonic's eyes grew wide as he saw the scepter in the plumbers hand. He recognized what it was and where it came from. "What the-is that the Jeweled Scepter?"

Suddenly, the shadow figure's body began to flash white. Knuckles panicked and let go of the shadow figure, backing away with the others. The shadow figure's body began to glow all white. It's body soon transformed back to it's original form, revealing the _true _identity of the shadow figure.

The group was shocked to see the true body of the shadow figure, especially the Sonic gang. They recognized their long-time enemy from their world. One who had caused havoc for them all these years and attempted many times to destroy them.

"No...it can't be..." Sonic spoke.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

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**The heroes have found the Power Star of Rainbow Castle! But now, the true identity of the shadow figure is revealed! Who could it be? And what was it doing with the powerful Jeweled Scepter? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

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_**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Man, this is officially the LONGEST chapter in the story. I worked really hard on it. I'm quite proud of this chapter too. Finally, it's the moment of truth. The moment when the heroes realize who the shadow figure really is! Who is it? Read next week's chapter to find out!**_

_**The setting for this chapter, Rainbow Castle, is inspired by the Super Mario 64 level, "Rainbow Ride". It's also inspired by other games, like the actual board in Mario Party 1, "Mario's Rainbow Castle" and the other board in Mario Party 5, "Rainbow Dream."**_

_**The Wing Cap was the power-up in Mario's red exclamation block all along. Hehe, who knew? I really loved this power-up in Super Mario 64, so I decided to incorporate it into this chapter. It made sense anyway since the heroes were in this world in the sky.**_

_**Haha, I also added in the Tanooki Suit! Man this power-up was fun to use in Super Mario Bros 3. It's cool to know that it's coming back in Super Mario 3D Land! I can't wait to play that game when it comes out.**_

_**The Jeweled Scepter appears! I bet no one expected this to appear! If you remember, the Jeweled Scepter appeared in Sonic Rush Adventure. Hmm, there were a few unique CHARACTERS that appeared in THAT game. Could this mean something? We shall see. **_

_**Oh yeah, Luigi officially returns in the action! Let me just say he's awesome. :)**_

**_This chapter got to explore the friendship the heroes had with one another. They've been through so many adventures, that eventually they would have to part ways from each other. It's really hard when you have to say goodbye to a friend and even though these guys are heroes, they still have feelings like you and me. (ya I know it's cheesy, but I'm trying to prove a point.)_**

**_I've also read in the reviews that someone asked if the 3DS can also play regular DS Games. Yes they do. :D_**

**_Well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter. Make sure to come back next week to read the upcoming chapter! Thank you to everyone who has supported me. And to those who haven't, you know who you are. :P Make sure to read my profile for updates on my stories._**

**_Bye for now!_**

**__****__****__************-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	39. True Shadows!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 39: True Shadows!**_

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_**Rainbow Castle, Tallest Tower Room**_

The heroes were in the room of the tallest tower of the magical Rainbow Castle. They had just found the Power Star that landed in the area, but were now face to face with the shadow figure, who suddenly revealed it's true identity after being defeated by them. Everyone could only look in shock to see the face that hid under the shadowy disguise.

"I can't believe it was you all along!" Sonic said, clutching his hands in tight fists, frustrated he couldn't realize it sooner. It had all made sense to him. He now understood the dreams he had about the shadow figure. It was _it _all along.

The heroes had surrounded the true form of the shadow figure and watched as it stood up from the floor. It had sustained damage from the bombardment of punches Knuckles put upon him. "So...now you know who I am..." The robot stared at all of them with it's menacing, red eyes.

The shadow figure was none other than Metal Sonic!

Tanooki Luigi was surprised from the amazing resemblance the robot had with Sonic. It's body and head were coated a cobalt blue paint. It's mechanical feet were the same crimson red as Sonic's shoes. And of course, it's body was shaped the same way as Sonic's. "Huh? What? Why does that _thing _look like Sonic?"

"That's because Dr. Eggman made it." Tails started to explain to Tanooki Luigi and the others. He told the origin of Metal Sonic, how he was made by Eggman to destroy Sonic. But no matter what, Sonic was able to defeat his mechanical doppelganger numerous times. Tails also explained how Metal Sonic would always convince itself that it was the _real _Sonic.

"What the fox says is true," Metal Sonic said to them in a deep, robotic voice. It suddenly began floating in the air by using the jet pack that was built in it's back. "except for that last detail. I _am _the real Sonic!"

"How many times do we have to tell you," Sonic tried to explain to Metal Sonic. "you're not the real Sonic, _I _am. You're just another creation of that crazy egghead!"

Metal Sonic glared menacingly at Sonic. "Do not mention that lunatic professor! I do not work for that madman anymore." Surprisingly, Mario asked Metal Sonic what it was doing here, in their world. The robot quickly turned to him, it's red eyes began to flash in anger. "I do not need to tell you what my purpose of being here is, Star Child!"

The group was surprised Metal Sonic called Mario a "Star Child". None of them knew what it meant. Metal Sonic had also previously called Yoshi a Star Child earlier before it's identity was revealed. Metal Sonic pointed at the Jeweled Scepter that Mario held in his hand. "Return the scepter to me or you will suffer painfully in my hands!"

At first, Mario refused. Furious, Metal Sonic suddenly charged a red energy beam from it's stomach and shot it towards Mario. It hit the plumber with a powerful force, knocking him back into a wall. Mario fell to the floor, greatly injured from the attack. He dropped the Jeweled Scepter on the floor. Metal Sonic quickly swiped it back.

The others reacted to this and got into battle positions. "What are you doing with the Jeweled Scepter anyway?" Sonic asked, demanding Metal Sonic to explain.

Metal Sonic turned to him. glaring at him with an intimidating stare. "As I said earlier, I do not need to tell you what my purpose of being here is..." Suddenly, a shield of blue electricity surrounded Metal Sonic. He was preparing to use the Ring Spark Field. It was an attack that would spread a giant field of electricity around Metal Sonic, shocking anyone around it.

Sonic quickly charged towards Metal Sonic and initiated a Homing Attack on him. The attack hit, causing Metal Sonic to fly back a bit and sustaining damage. Furious, Metal Sonic charged his jet pack to overdrive and accelerated towards Sonic at breakneck speed. This attack was the V. Maximum Overdrive attack!

Before Sonic could reacted, Metal Sonic charged at him and tackled him with great force. The robot flew both of them towards the wall of the tower room. crashing right through it and into the outside. Sonic was flung far from the force of the V. Maximum Overdrive attack. Metal Sonic watched as he flew through the air, over the castle gardens and crash through the wall of the other side of the Rainbow Castle, into another room. He laughed in pleasure. "What a pathetic hedgehog! He shouldn't underestimate the power of me."

"_SONIC!_" Amy screamed out for him. Her concern for him turned into rage against Metal Sonic. "You're going to pay for what you did to Sonic!" She quickly took out her Piko Piko Hammer and charged at Metal Sonic. The robot turned back. It already charged an energy laser and shot it at her. It hit Amy and she fell back from the force, dropping her hammer on the floor.

Tanooki Luigi and Tails quickly ran up to her aid. Yoshi became mad at Metal Sonic and growled furiously at him. "You're a _bad robot!" _He quickly shot his tongue and caught the left leg of Metal Sonic. The robot tried to shake off the dinosaur's grasp, but Yoshi continued to hold on. Metal Sonic electrified it's body, causing the electricity to also shock Yoshi. He yelped in pain and quickly let go of Metal Sonic.

"I have no time to fight any of you." Metal Sonic said. He began to float away from them, taking the Jeweled Scepter with it.

"We can't let Metal Sonic get away!" Knuckles said to the others. Wing Mario, Tanooki Luigi and Tails decided to give chase after it. Wing Mario commenced a triple jump and flew out of the hole Metal Sonic made, while Tails flew both him and Tanooki Luigi right behind Wing Mario. Knuckles would help Yoshi and Amy get back down to the bottom of the tower for safety.

Metal Sonic reached the skies above the castle gardens when he noticed the heroes were following it. The robot quickly charged another energy laser from it's stomach and shot it towards Wing Mario. The plumber quickly dodged it and flew faster towards Metal Sonic. He threw a punch at it, but Metal Sonic dodged it. He swatted the plumber down, causing him to fall down in the air a few feet.

Tails flew Tanooki Luigi towards Metal Sonic. The fox threw him towards the robot. Tanooki Luigi flew through the air and spun his tails around, hitting Metal Sonic. He continued spinning, rapidly attacking Metal Sonic with his tails. Tanooki Luigi kicked Metal Sonic back and Tails quickly caught the plumber.

Metal Sonic shook off the attack and shot another energy laser at Tails and Tanooki Luigi, hitting them and causing them to fall in the air. Wing Mario quickly caught both of them. "We need to find a way to ground Metal Sonic!" he explained to them.

Tails came up with an idea and explained it to them. They agreed to the plan. Wing Mario let go of Tails, who went back to flying. The fox flew towards Metal Sonic and taunted him. "Hey! Metalhead! You can't hit me!"

Falling for the taunt, Metal Sonic charged another energy laser, but before he could shoot it, Wing Mario flung Tanooki Luigi behind Metal Sonic. He whipped his tail at the robot, flinging him towards Tails. The fox spun and also whipped the robot with his tails. For the final attack, Wing Mario flew towards Metal Sonic and threw a powerful downwards punch on it's stomach. Metal Sonic fell to the ground and crashed into the castle gardens fountain

Metal Sonic slowly climbed out of the fountain. It's body had sparks coming out of it's body and it's movements were jittery. Metal Sonic kneeled on the ground badly injured, still having the Jeweled Scepter in it's hands. Wing Mario, Tanooki Luigi and Tails surrounded the robot. It laughed at the trio. "No matter what attacks you throw at me, I'm still invincible."

Suddenly, Metal Sonic raised the Jeweled Scepter in the air. A ball of light sparked from the tip. The ball of light floated towards Metal Sonic's body and disappeared inside it. All of Metal Sonic's injuries were repaired. It slowly stood up and stared at the heroes, who were shocked to see Metal Sonic fully capable of fighting again. He pointed at the Jeweled Scepter. "With the _Power of the Stars_ in my hand, I'm powerful! But that alone won't be enough for me." The robot pointed at Mario and Luigi. "You, along with the other five Star Children are needed in unlocking what _I _am looking for."

The heroes were still confused to what Metal Sonic was talking about. Suddenly, Metal Sonic's body was covered again in a blue shield of electricity. It was the Ring Spark Field attack! Metal Sonic released the electricity field, shocking the heroes around it. The pain from the shock was deadly, even causing Mario and Luigi to lose their Wing and Tanooki power-ups, respectively. The attack soon ended and the heroes fell to the ground, exhausted from the attack.

Metal Sonic looked to Tails. He slowly walked towards the fox and grabbed him by the neck. Tails choked from the tight grasp. Metal Sonic's eyes stared intimidatingly at him. "No matter if the other two are the Star Children, you are no use to me. Which means..." Suddenly, the charge of Metal Sonic's energy was heard. It was charged at full power. Metal Sonic was going to finish Tails right there. Mario and Luigi were too powerless to do anything. They could only watch their friend about to be obliterated.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic was slowly regaining consciousness. He slowly stood up, feeling the pain from Metal Sonic's V. Maximum Overdrive attack. He looked around him. He was in a mysterious, fountain room of Rainbow Castle. Behind him was the hole that he made when he crashed through it. In front of him was a large fountain with sparkling water flowing from it. Behind the fountain were arches that led to the balcony of that same room. There was a door to the left of the fountain, most likely leading to the hallways of the castle. The room was covered in a blue glow from the water fountain.

Sonic slowly stood up and walked towards the fountain. He wondered what this room was supposed to be used for. He looked around, not finding anything else in the fountain room. He stared deep into the fountain, seeing his own reflection. He thought he noticed something inside the fountain. Curious, he reached into the waters of the fountain, feeling around it and felt an object. He took out the object and was surprised to see what is was.

"Whoa...what is this?" Sonic gasped. In his hands, he held what seemed to be an object in the shape of a star. At first, Sonic thought it was another Power Star, but he realized it wasn't as this star flashed different colors, almost like a rainbow. It also gave out a rainbow sparkle. Sonic hadn't realized he had the Rainbow Star power-up in his hands.

The power-up suddenly disappeared in his hands. Surprised, Sonic looked around him, wondering if it teleported somewhere else. He was unaware that he had absorbed the energy of the power-up. Sonic felt a small tingle in his body. He felt an abundance amount of energy rush through him. A sparkle of white light surrounded him and covered his body. It disappeared in a flash and Sonic's body started flashing in different colors like a rainbow.

Sonic was now Rainbow Sonic!

"Man! This feels amazing!" Rainbow Sonic exclaimed. The power-up made him feel invincible. Rainbow Sonic started to run around the fountain. The power-up made him run much faster than he could before, allowing him to almost reach _hypersonic _speeds. Rainbow Sonic would leave a trail of light behind him when he'd run. Rainbow Sonic stopped, impressed by the power-up. "I could get used to this!"

Suddenly, Rainbow Sonic heard a loud shout outside. He turned back and looked out the hole in the wall he made. There, he saw Mario and Luigi lying on the groun in the center of the castle gardens. In front of them, was Metal Sonic, who was holding Tails in it's grasp. It was preparing to shoot a powerful energy laser right in front of the fox's body.

"_TAILS!_" Rainbow Sonic shouted to him. He jumped out of the room and ran towards the others. He quickly rushed beside Metal Sonic and gave a swift kick to the side of it's head, knocking the robot back a few feet and making it let go of Tails. Metal Sonic landed near a rose bush, severly damaged from Rainbow Sonic's attack.

Tails began coughing after being released from Metal Sonic's grasp. He looked up, seeing Rainbow Sonic holding out his hand for him. "Sonic...is that you?" He was surprised to see his hedgehog friend flashing in various bright colors. Rainbow Sonic helped Tails stand up.

Luigi looked up and noticed Sonic's transformation. "Whoa! Looking good Sonic! Did you find a Rainbow Star or something?" Mario quickly got up and also noticed Sonic. He was impressed the hedgehog found the power-up.

Metal Sonic used his Ring Spark Field to burn down the rose bush around him and climbed out of it. He noticed Sonic's new form. "No...how is this possible?" Rainbow Sonic hadn't noticed him, so Metal Sonic took the opportunity to shoot an energy laser at him. The laser was powerless against him, only able to bounce off Rainbow Sonic with no harm.

"Hehe...sweet! It's like I'm invincible!" Rainbow Sonic exclaimed. He looked up to Metal Sonic and gave him a cold look. "Alright, Metal! It's time for you to pay for what you've done to my friends!"

"I'm afraid I won't let that happen." Metal Sonic answered to him. The robot charged up another V. Maximum Overdrive attack and sped towards Rainbow Sonic. Right when Metal Sonic touched the hedgehog, he immediately bounced off him and landed in another rose bush. Rainbow Sonic simply stood there, rolling his eyes at Metal Sonic's failed attempt.

"GAH! It's no use!" Metal Sonic shouted out in frustration while he climbed out of the rose bush. "I am powerless against you at the moment." It looked at it's Jeweled Scepter in it's hands. "I'm going to have to resort to other means." Metal Sonic stared at Mario and pointed at him. "I shall deal with you later, Star Child!"

Instantly, Metal Sonic raised the Jeweled Scepter high into the air. It's robotic body began to change. A purple, shadowy mist covered him. Metal Sonic transformed back into the shadow figure of Sonic. The Jeweled Scepter transformed back into the shape of the shadow paintbrush. It's eyes were still had the intimidating red pupils.

"_It is time to destroy this miserable castle!" _the shadow figure snarled out. He quickly flew high into the sky above Rainbow Castle and held both it's hands into the air. Suddenly, a shadow energy ball appeared above him. It began to gradually grow bigger. The shadow figure was going to destroy Rainbow Castle with a gigantic shadow ball!

The heroes realized what was going on. "Uh oh! We've got to get outta here!" Tails told the others. At that moment, Yoshi, Knuckles and Amy had just reached the castle garden. Rainbow Sonic called out to them and notified them that Metal Sonic was going to destroy the whole castle.

_"It's best if you run while you can, Sonic!" _the shadow figure called out to him. "_It is the best thing you can do!"_

The heroes rushed out of the castle gardens as fast as they could. They made they way through the long hallways of the castle, desperate to reach the air balloons on time.

The energy of the shadow ball was now humongous! Almost as big as the Rainbow Castle itself! It was so enormous that if blocked the sunlight. Seeing that the shadow ball was big enough, the shadow figure gave out a loud grunt and threw the shadow ball down towards Rainbow Castle. It slowly descended to the castle, ready to obliterate the structure.

The heroes had just reached the drawbridge of Rainbow Castle and headed towards the air balloons. Mario looked up and saw the shadow energy ball about to crash down into the castle. He knew they wouldn't have enough time to prepare the air balloons for flight. "We have no choice! We have to jump off the island!"

Everyone was hesitant at first, but knew that if they wanted to escape alive, they needed to jump. They passed by the air balloons and stopped near the edge of Rainbow Castle's island. The heroes looked down, only seeing the clouds float by under the island. They immediately summed up the courage. Taking each other's hands, they jumped off the edge of the island, just as the shadow energy ball collided into the castle, causing the towers to collapse, the walls to crash down and turning the whole castle into nothing but ruins.

The shadow figure looked down at the ruins of Rainbow Castle, disappointed it couldn't bring Sonic and his friends down with it. He quickly moved on to other thoughts. The shadow figure snapped it's fingers, making the Cyan Chaos Emerald appear in front of it. He carefully grabbed it and looked at it, thinking about the next Star Child.

"_It's time to make a royal delivery."_

* * *

_**Outside the Mario Bros. House**_

It was a peaceful afternoon at the Mario Bros home. It stood quietly in the woods it was located in. At that moment, our heroes were slowly descending to the front porch. Tails had flown them tirelessly all the way from Rainbow Castle. He quickly dropped them in front of the house. He dropped down and sat on the front steps, exhausted. "Gee, I thought carrying _two _of you guys was hard work."

Rainbow Sonic gently patted his friend on the back. "Hey, if it wasn't for you buddy, we wouldn't even be alive." He smiled at the fox. Suddenly, the power of the Rainbow Star ran out and Sonic was back into his regular, blue self. He was a bit disappointed, but he knew it had to end eventually. He felt a small tingle on his right hand and removed his glove, finding the mark of the Rainbow Star on the back of his hand. He knew what it meant. Just like Amy and Tails, he could only use that power-up from now on.

Knuckles was punching the ground in frustration. He was angry he wasn't able to get back the Master Emerald from Metal Sonic. "I can't believe he got away from us! That metal freak! Next time I see him, I'll smash him twice as hard as before!"

"Chill, redhead." Luigi told him. "Don't worry, I'm-a sure we can get him next time. I mean, it is just an emerald after all."

The echidna looked at him with a look of disbelief. He slowly stepped towards the plumber. Luigi noticed the angry face Knuckles had and slowly backed away. Knuckles began to yell at him. "Just an emerald, you say? DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT THE EMERALD DOES? It keeps a whole island afloat! Without the Master Emerald, Angel Island will have to float in the ocean for the rest of time, which is NOT supposed to happen!"

"Why are you so serious about this?" Luigi asked him, unaware of how important the Master Emerald was to Knuckles. "Can't you find another way to float this _Angel Island?_ Like, I don't know, use giant magnets?"

Knuckles had the urge to punch out Luigi. "You just don't get it, this is _my _destiny! _I_ am the guardian of the Master Emerald! It's my duty!"

Amy quickly stopped the two from fighting. "Guys! This really isn't the time for this!"

"Amy's right." Sonic said to them. He told them that they needed to find out how Metal Sonic himself was able to get hold of the Jeweled Scepter. And they also needed to figure out what Metal Sonic was talking about when he called Mario, Luigi and Yoshi, _Star Children._

"By the way, what exactly _is _the Jeweled Scepter?" Yoshi asked, curiously. Sonic allowed Tails to explain it. He told them the Jeweled Scepter is a powerful artifact that belonged to their dimension. Well, sort of. In reality, it belonged in an _alternate_ version of their dimension. The Jeweled Scepter is very powerful. It held what was know as the _Power of the Stars_ in their dimension. The _Power of the Stars _is an immense power, even stronger than the Chaos Emeralds. Tails could only wonder how Metal Sonic figured out about the _Power of the Stars._ Now, not only would the heroes have to get back the Master Emerald, but now they'd also need to get back the Jeweled Scepter!

"This really is putting a lot of pressure on me." Tails told the others. Right now, he didn't want to think of it and wanted to rest for now. Suddenly, he remembered something. He took out the Power Star out of his pocket. "We should really give this to Professor Gadd before we forget about it."

The heroes agreed. But before they went, Luigi had to use the bathroom in the Mario Bros house. Everyone groaned and told him to go quickly. Luigi rushed inside and entered the bathroom of his house. Before he did his "business" Luigi suddenly felt something under his hat.

The plumber took off his hat and was surprised to find a blue emerald laying on top of his head. He grabbed it and looked at it carefully as it glowed in his hands. Luigi couldn't believe he didn't notice it was there until now. He shrugged it off and placed the emerald into his bedroom for now and returned outside with the others. They were now going to head to Gadd's Garage.

Unaware of Luigi, he had completed the next step of Metal Sonic's plan to reach ultimate destruction. Luigi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Yoshi and Junior were now in possession of the Chaos Emeralds. The only question now was, who was the next Star Child?

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Laboratory Room_**

"Hohoho! Finally! I'm finished! The doomsday machine is complete!" Eggman exclaimed excitedly in the laboratory room. He began to laugh in pride of his achievement. After what seemed to be countless hours for him, he finally finished building the doomsday machine.

While Eggman was laughing, Bowser walked into the laboratory, curious to why the doctor was laughing. "Uhm, Eggman! Stop laughing this instance and tell me why you're laughing in the first place!"

Eggman quickly stopped laughing and pointed at the doomsday machine, which was still covered under the large, beige blanket. "I've finally completed it! Our doomsday machine is finally done!" Bowser couldn't believe it and told Eggman to show the completed machine. Eggman led him under the blanket covering the machine and showed it to him. Bowser was deeply impressed by the finished product and praised Eggman's work.

"All we need now is the power source to operate the doomsday machine." Eggman explained to Bowser. He asked him if they found a Power Star to power the machine. Bowser told them they'd have to wait until tonight to find out where the Power Star would land. "You'd better be right about this whole Power Star idea. If not, then I built this machine for _nothing_ then!"

"I can assure you this will all be worth it," Bowser told Eggman. "once we get this doomsday machine running, both Mario and Sonic will stand no chance against our power!" Bowser began to laugh. He couldn't wait to see the look on the heroes face when they would lay eyes on their doomsday machine.

"Umm, I have a small question," Eggman asked Bowser. The koopa king stopped laughing and looked at Eggman, ready to hear the question. "How do you plan on bringing Mario and Sonic here?"

Bowser's eyes grew wide. He realized he hadn't come up with a plan to bring the heroes to his castle. Bowser thought for a moment and came up with a brilliant plan. "I've got it!" he began to walk out of the laboratory room. Eggman called out to him, asking what the plan was. Bowser gave him an evil stare. and simply said, "I'm just going to pick up the _bait._" Eggman didn't really understand what he just said, but trusted Bowser that he knew what he was doing.

Bowser walked out of the laboratory room and headed for Junior's bedroom. The koopaling was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the Purple Chaos Emerald in his hands. Bowser entered the room without knocking, surprising Junior. The koopaling panicked and hid the Purple Chaos Emerald behind his back. He greeted his father. "Oh, hey there papa!"

"Junior," Bowser spoke in a serious tone. "I need you to start up the airships. We're going to be picking up something." Junior quickly nodded to his papa. Bowser soon left his bedroom, about to prepare for their journey.

_I wonder why papa needs the airships right now. _Junior thought. He looked back to his Purple Chaos Emerald and thought about the shadow figure. It had been awhile since he had seen it. He wondered what it was up to right now. Putting the Purple Chaos Emerald safely into his toy chest next to his bed, Junior headed to the airship room, ready for his journey with his papa.

Soon, mayhem would ensue throughout the Mushroom Kingdom.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The doomsday machine is complete! What is Bowser planning up to now? And the heroes have their next Power Star in hand! Will it be enough to bring Sonic and his friends back home? And the shadow figure is actually Metal Sonic! What could happen next in this action-packed adventure? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**_Author Notes: Chapter complete! Gee, now we know who the shadow figure is! It's Metal Sonic! :O Who knew it was that robot clone of Sonic after all! This adds loads of tension between him and the heroes. And I wonder who Metal Sonic will give the next Chaos Emerald to. We'll see next chapter!_**

**_The attacks Metal Sonic is able to do is based off the attacks it holds in Sonic CD. The V. Maximum Overdrive attack is based off the boosting attack Metal Sonic would do when Sonic got ahead of him in the race in "Stardust Speedway." The Ring Spark Field is based off the electric shield attack he does when Sonic approaches him from behind._**

**_It looks like Sonic's power-up seems to be the Rainbow Star! I did this because the power-up represented fast-paced gameplay, which fit Sonic. Also, Rainbow Sonic seems to act similar to Hyper Sonic. Coincidence? :)_**

**_And it looks like the heroes not only have to get back the Master Emerald, but also the Jeweled Scepter! Could things get any worse for them? How was Metal Sonic able to discover about the Jeweled Scepter and the Power of the Stars anyway? Just to explain to those confused, the Power of the Stars is already stored inside the Jeweled Scepter. This will be explained more in detail in later chapters._**

**_The battle between the heroes and the villians is about to unfold! This will be covered in the next 4 chapters! The number may change, but no matter what, I'll be excited to writing them! _**

**_And just to remind people, the five known Star Children are Junior, Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Koing and Luigi. The other two will be revealed soon enough._**

**_Anyway, I'm tired right now, so thanks for reading this chapter and supporting me. Make sure to come back next week to read the next chapter. Check my profile for any news or updates about my stories._**

**_Bye for now!_**

**__****__****_P.S. I just wanted to add this. This is the last chapter before Halloween. So I'd like to say in advance to everyone who's reading this, Happy Halloween! Have fun and be safe trick-or-treating, whether you're getting candy from complete strangers or egging someone's house. Either way is fun though. ;)_**

**__****__********_P.S.S. Heh, I just also wanted to add that once this chapter is posted, the story should have over 150,000 words! What an accomplish!_**

**__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	40. Evil Arises!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 40: Evil Arises!**_

* * *

**_Boo Woods, Gadd's Garage_**

It was evening by the time our heroes arrived at Gadd's Garage. As usual, they waited for the entry elevator to pick them up and bring them down into the laboratory. Once they were inside, Professor Gadd kindly greeted them. First off, the heroes introduced both Knuckles and the professor to each other, since it was their first time meeting one another.

"Ah! So you must be that _knucklehead_ Sonic and the others have been talking about!" Gadd told Knuckles as he shook his hand. The echidna gave an embarrassed grin, then quickly turned to Sonic, giving him an irritated look. Sonic just shrugged and grinned back. Professor Gadd soon asked them what they were doing at his laboratory. Immediately, Tails grabbed out the Power Star from his pocket and showed it to the professor.

"Fantastic!" Gadd congratulated the heroes as he took the Power Star. He motioned them to follow him into the Dimension Teleportificationtron room. It was still the same as it ever was the last five or six times the heroes had seen it. Gadd stored the Power Star into the power slot and pressed a few buttons on the control panel, starting up the machine. Knuckles stared at the machine in awe and asked Tails if this was safe. The fox assured him without a doubt.

Gadd looked over to the screen on the control panel, checking how much energy the machine had. It had a fairly decent amount of 84% energy. Gadd knew there would be huge risks starting up the machine at this state, but if they never tried, they wouldn't know if this was the moment Sonic and his friends could return home to their dimension.

The professor took a deep breath and quickly pressed down the red power button, powering up the machine. The starting sound of the machine emitted from the room. The lightbulb on top lit up brightly. The machine shook a little, but not as dangerously like the last few attempts. A few minutes passed and the machine didn't not make any clanking or malfunctioning noises. The heroes began to wonder if the machine was actually going to work. Gadd was surprised the machine didn't blow up in their faces yet. He took another deep breath and began to start the next phase. He reached over to a small, gold-painted lever beside the red power button. This would open the door in front of the machine. Inside, they would see if a portal was open, allowing Sonic and his friends to return home.

This was a big risk though. If the machine didn't have enough power to conjure up a portal, something very dangerous would surely happen. Gadd had to take the risk. He quickly grabbed the gold lever and lifted it down, opening the door in front of the machine. The heroes watched as the door opened and looked into the machine. Inside, was a white, swirling magical portal. It made a sound similar to the whistling of the wind. Everyone couldn't believe what they saw. The machine was actually working!

Unfortunately, the machine didn't have enough power to keep the portal open. Instead, the portal began to fade away. Right when that began, the machine started making loud malfunctioning noises once again, only this time it was much louder. Sparks suddenly emitted from the machine and the lightbulb began to flash wildly. The machine began to shake as if an earthquake hit the room. Everyone began to panic. Gadd tried to shut down the machine, but none of the controls would respond. He told the heroes to get out of the room. Everyone rushed out the Dimension Teleportificationtron room, with Gadd being the last one out. He slammed the door shut. As soon as it was closed, a loud explosion was heard from inside the room. The force was so great that it caused the door to swing wide open, causing Gadd to fly back into the workshop's walls. Luigi and Yoshi rushed to his side, checking if he was okay. He assured them he was.

Everyone turned to the Dimension Teleportificationtron's room, checking to see how bad the damage was. First off, smoke began floating out of the room. Tails used his tails as a fan and made the smoke go away. The heroes cautiously entered the room and was shocked to see the machine in a badly destructed state. Parts of the machine was bent and dented, making it appear distorted. Bits and pieces of the machine was scattered around the room from the explosion. The lightbulb on top was shattered, with shards of glass laying on top of the machine. The metallic door in front of the machine laid on the floor, broken into two pieces. The control panel was still smoking. Worst of all, the battery slot was no where to be seen. It was as if it disintegrated from the explosion. It was the most important factor of the machine because it held all the Power Star energy. Now it was gone, along with the energy.

Gadd kneeled in front of the destroyed_ Dimension Teleportificationtron, _horrified to see all his hard work wasted into rubble. The heroes couldn't believe this had all happened. Now, there was no way Sonic and his friends couldn't return to their world. There was a long moment of silence in the room as everyone tried to take in the loss.

"I can't believe it..." Luigi said, breaking the silence. "...all of our hard work is gone!" He suddenly became frustrated and slammed his fist against the wall. Mario tried to calm him down, but Luigi just ignored him. He told them that their journeys through toxic forests, scorching deserts, giant ocean ruins, freezing mountains and magic rainbow castles to retrieve Power Stars was now all wasted efforts.

"Does that mean we're stuck in this world?" Amy asked them. The others weren't sure what to say. Their best chance at bring Sonic and his friends back home was gone. They didn't know what to do now.

Yoshi sat down on the floor and sighed. "Gee, I wish we had some sort of wand or something that creates magical portals between worlds. Then we wouldn't even need the Dimension Teleportificationtron." Sonic repeated Yoshi's words in his head and came to a realization. He remembered the day when he, Tails, Amy and Dr. Eggman were sucked into a dark portal in Empire City. He remembered the day when Luigi was sucked into a dark portal back at King Boo's Mansion. He remembered how Knuckles followed Metal Sonic into a dark portal it made that sent the both of them back into Mario's world. In all those instances, Metal Sonic most likely made those portals.

_But how did he make them? _Sonic thought to himself. He quickly turned to Knuckles. "Yo, knucklehead! How_ exactly_ did Metal Sonic create the dark portal that sucked you and the Master Emerald inside it?"

Knuckles thought back to the day that happened. It took him awhile to remember everything. Sonic shook his friend and told him to remember faster. Soon, Knuckles explained how Metal Sonic created the dark portal. "I think he waved this huge shadow paintbrush or something, I don't know."

"The shadow paintbrush..." Mario repeated Knuckles's words. He suddenly remembered the fight they had between Metal Sonic back at Rainbow Castle. He remembered how the shadow paintbrush itself was actually the Jeweled Scepter in disguise. "Mamamia! That Metal Sonic used the Jeweled Scepter to create portals between our dimensions!"

Tails nodded and agreed to Mario's statement. "That could be true. I mean, the Jeweled Scepter holds the hold the Power of the Stars. That power alone can do amazing things between dimensions. I wouldn't be surprised if it could create dimension portals."

"Then that's our ticket to returning home." Sonic explained to the others. He told them that they needed to get back the Jeweled Scepter from Metal Sonic. That way, they could return home and also defeat Metal Sonic and get back the Jeweled Scepter, along with the Master Emerald. "It's like killing two birds with one stone!"

The heroes agreed to his plan. It was a dangerous plan, knowing that Metal Sonic was a dangerous foe, but if they teamed up and used their powers against the metallic doppelganger, they could defeat him and take back what he has stolen. And also return home.

"Good luck then." Gadd suddenly spoke out. He was still kneeling in front of his destroyed machine, but soon stood up. He turned to the heroes and put his hands behind his back and then nodded to them. "Now that your plan in meeting your objective has changed, you won't necessarily be needing my assistance anymore."

Luigi walked up to Professor Gadd and put a hand to his shoulder and smiled at him. "Thanks for everything that you've done for us, Gadd. You've truly been the best help we've ever had in our adventure."

Gadd smiled back to the plumber. "It's been a wonderful time. I've met new friends, created more amazing gadgets. But now it's time for you heroes to go on without me. If you ever really need me or if you'd like to visit, my laboratory is always open for you."

The heroes said their goodbyes to Professor Gadd and soon left his garage. They began walking through Boo Woods, heading back to Toad Town to visit the princess again and to take a well-deserved break. Tomorrow, they would begin their hunt for Metal Sonic. The robot was their only other way of returning Sonic and his friends back to their dimension.

* * *

**_Toad Town, Princess Peach's Castle_**

"Princess Peach! Princess Peach!" Toadsworth began to call for her in the castle's foyer. The old advisor had just found a mysterious package left in front of the castle's doors. The package was in a pink box and wrapped in a white ribbon.

Princess Peach hurried down from her bedroom and into the castle's foyer. She climbed down the stairs in the foyer and met up with Toadsworth. She saw rhe mysterious package he held in his hands. "A package for me? I wonder who would be so kind to send me one right now." She never expected a package for today. It wasn't her birthday or any special holiday. But the princess didn't want to be rude, so she took the package from Toadsworth and carefully unwrapped it. She took off the lid and was surprised to see what was inside.

"Oh my goodness. It's beautiful!" Peach exclaimed. She showed Toadsworth what was in the package. There, placed inside the pink box, was a sparkling cyan emerald that laid upon a soft, red cushion.

Toadsworth was blinded by it's elegance. "My, what an exquisite jewel! The color is astounding and the shape looks magnificant!" He turned to the princess, confused. "I say, who would send you such a marvelous jewel, may I ask?"

"It could most likely be Mario." Peach said dreamily, still staring at the jewel. "He can be such a romantic man sometimes." The emerald matched the color of her sapphire brooch on her dress. She decided to take the emerald up to her room and place it in her jewellery case. She also asked one of her Toad retainers in the foyer to write a thank-you letter to Mario.

"Hmm, this seems somewhat suspicious." Toadsworth said to himself. He wondered to himself how Mario could find the time to buy the emerald while he was adventuring with Sonic and the others. He was even surprised by the appearance of the jewel, as Toadsworth had never seen such emerald like that being sold anywhere. Toadsworth quickly shrugged it off and headed back into his business.

Princess Peach was already up in her bedroom, storing her new emerald into her jewellery case. Her bedroom was the biggest and most magnificant-looking bedroom in the castle. It was located on the second floor of the castle. The walls were painted pink and the floor and ceiling were white. Most of her furniture, such as the mirror, drawers, bed and tables were either pink or white. Opposite of the doorway was the balcony, where you could see the whole front courtyard and the rest of the Toad Town buildings. It was in front of the castle, over the entrance.

Peach stared at the cyan emerald as it glowed inside her jewellery case. It was one of the most beautiful jewels she had ever seen. She closed her jewellery case and walked out into the balcony and gazed at the town, watching her people going about their daily lives. She sighed and wondered what the heroes were doing at this moment. "I can assume the others are having fun right now." She sighed once again. Being ruler of a kingdom was a great feeling, but she al I just wish there was a little more excitement in my life..."

"I think we can easily establish that, princess!" somebody growled at her. The voice came from behind her. Peach spun around and saw the source of the voice. She gasped in horror, seeing the familiar face stare at her with his demonic look.

"Long time, no see, princess!" Bowser roared down at her. He was standing near the bow of his airship, one leg in front of the other. The airship was floating above the castle roof. Junior was steering the airship. Peach watched as the airship floated right in front of the balcony. Bowser jumped off the airship, landing onto the balcony with a loud thud. He stared at the princess. Smoke began to slowly blow out of his snout.

"Bowser..." Peach spoke to him calmly. After being kidnapped by the koopa king countless times, she wasn't afraid of him as much as her first kidnapping. Still, she slowly stepped back into her bedroom. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing really," Bowser said, pretending to be uninterested in the situation. "I was just in the neighborhood and decided to drop by and say hello" He slowly walked up to the princess, while the princess continued to step back.

"If you intend to kidnap me Bowser, just do it." Peach told him. "I'm not interested in what you have to say to me. No matter what, Mario will always rescue me from you."

Bowser turned furious when he heard the plumber's name. "Bwahaha! You seriously think that stupid plumber of yours will _always_ be there to rescue you? Face it, princess! Some things have to end eventually. And that day, will be today!" The koopa king quickly grabbed the princess and jumped back onto the airship's deck. Peach shouted for help as the airship began to flee from the castle.

Toadsworth was the first to hear the princess's pleas. He rushed up to her bedroom and headed out into the balcony. He could only watch as Bowser escaped with Peach in his captive hands. "NO! PRINCESS!" Toadsworth shouted for her. He didn't know what to do. He had just wished the Mario Bros. were here right now.

"HEY! MR. OLD MUSHROOM MAN!" Bowser shouted back to Toadsworth. The old advisor looked up to the airship. Bowser held a letter that was folded into a paper airplane in his hand. He threw the paper airplane towards Toadsworth. It landed in front of the advisors feet, allowing him to pick it up. The letter was made on red paper, with a faint face of Bowser's logo on it. The font was in white text. Bowser called back to him. "Make sure the Mario Bros. and their furry little friends get my message! Bwahaha!"

Toadsworth couldn't do anything else. He could only wait for the heroes to return and tell them the terrible news.

* * *

_**Several hours later...**_

It was early in the night by the time our heroes arrived at the castle. They were up at Peach's bedroom balcony. Toadsworth had just told them the bad news of what happened before they arrived. He gave them the note Bowser threw at him. Mario folded it from it's paper-airplane state. He cleared his voice and read the letter aloud to the others.

_Dear heroes,_

_By the time you foolish pests are reading this letter, the princess will have been kidnapped and locked away in my dungeon! Bwahaha! If you ever want to see her again, come by to my castle in Dark Land. Who knows, maybe I'll have a special treat for you heroes! You never know._

_With hate,  
Bowser, the Almighty Koopa King_

_P.S. Dr. Eggman says hi. Geez, what a way to ruin the mood... _

The heroes were shocked to realize that Bowser had kidnapped Princess Peach. Although, the Mario Bros. weren't as shocked as the Sonic crew, since they were used to rescuing Princess Peach. And it had been awhile ever since Bowser had been up to his evil shenanigans.

"I can't believe they did this!" Sonic said, with an annoyed tone. "I thought we were finished with those crazy fools. Guess I was wrong." Tails asked Sonic what were they going to do now. Sonic was surprised his fox buddy asked him. He simply answered, "We're going to rescue princess."

"I couldn't agree anymore with you, Sonic." said Luigi. "And once we rescue the princess, we're going to kick the living evil out of Bowser and Eggman!" He punched his fist with his left hand when he said that statement. Knuckles was amused at Luigi's comment and gave the plumber a high-five.

"I'm going with you guys." Amy told the others. Sonic told her he didn't want her to come with them, as he was afraid something bad would happen to her and he wouldn't want to be responsible for it. Amy complained back to Sonic, telling her that Peach was also her friend and she wanted to rescue her. And she was coming with the heroes no matter what.

"Ugh...fine. You can come." Sonic said, annoyed, but at the same time nervous that Amy was coming with them.

Mario quickly crumpled up Bowser's letter into a ball and dropped it onto the floor. He was positive that Bowser and Eggman was planning a scheme to thrawt the heroes and they had a trap set up for them at the castle. They needed to be prepared. But how? He turned to Taodsworth. "Do you happen to have anything we could use to help us on our journey to Bowser's Castle, Toadsworth?"

Toadsworth thought for a moment and soon remembered something that useful that could be of help for the heroes. He rushed out of the princess's bedroom, then returned. In his hand, he was holding a a light-blue bag with a Toad face on the front. He handed it to Yoshi to hold and explained what the bag was for. "This is the Item Bag. When you reach inside the bag, you'll grab out a random power-up. You can only reach into this bag three times. Once those three times are used, it'll turn into a regular bag." The heroes nodded to Toadsworth, understanding what he said.

"Pretty cool, if you ask me." Sonic said, talking about the Item Bag. "So...do you happen to have another one of those?" Toadsworth simply shook his head, disappointing Sonic. The Item Bags seemed to be helpful, and it would have been a benefit to the heroes if they had more of them.

"I do not have any more of the Item Bags," Toadsworth began to explain. "but I _do _have something for both Mario and Luigi." The old Toad ran out of the bedroom once again. The heroes looked at each other once again, wondering what he would bring. Soon, Toadsworth returned to the bedroom, holding two steel hammers in each hand. He dropped them in front of the Mario Bros. They both grabbed a hammer for themselves and inspected them carefully. "I remember the princess telling me you wielded only wooden hammers. I thought you would be needing an upgrade, so I asked one of the Toad retainers to craft you these special steel hammers. They're much stronger than those sticks you have."

"Wow...thanks Toadsworth!" Luigi said, putting the hammer into his pocket. He was happy he and his brother had much stronger hammers, although Amy wasn't really impressed by their "normal" steel hammers. She knew her Piko Piko Hammer outclassed theirs.

"Oh, and one more thing." Toadsworth said. He dug into his pocket and took out a familiar-looking object to the Mario Bros. It was a brown whistle-like instrument. "This is a Warp Whistle. Once you rescue the princess, you can blow into it, causing you to warp back here in front of the castle. Make sure you do not lose it." Mario took the Warp Whistle and carefully placed it into his pocket.

The heroes were all set. Now that they had all the items they needed, they were more than ready to journey into Dark Land, face Bowser and Eggman once again and rescue Princess Peach from peril. The heroes soon left the castle and ventured on their way to Dark Land. It would be a long and dangerous journey, but they had to save a friend. Toadsworth wished them the best of luck and hoped they would return safely with the princess.

Unaware to the heroes, Metal Sonic had been watching them all this time on top of the castle. The robot chuckled at their situation. "Hahaha! It seems like the heroes have been hit with a terrible predicament. No matter! I will deliver the last Chaos Emerald to the final Star Child!" Suddenly, the red Chaos Emerald appeared in the robot's hand. Metal Sonic quickly waved the Jeweled Scepter in the air and teleported away from the castle.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**Uh oh! Princess Peach has been kidnapped! Will the heroes be able to succeed in rescuing her from the evil clutches of Bowser and Dr. Eggman? And will Metal Sonic be able to give the final Chaos Emerald to the final Star Child? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

* * *

_**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Man, I'm tired. I challenged myself to make this whole chapter in one single night, and I did. Now I'm sleepy and can't wait to get to bed. **_

_**Oh yeah, but first I'd like to get some confusing things out of the way, since last chapter seemed to raise some questions for some. First off, the power-ups for the Sonic crew. Let me just say this sort of "energy" is limiting them to using only one power-up. I won't be saying what the energy is because it's a very crucial plot point and I want it to be a surprise. **_

_**Second, the Jeweled Scepter was in Blaze's possession, but now it's not. Simple as that. Metal Sonic stole it from her dimension somehow. How exactly? It'll be explained in future chapters. **_

_**Oh no! Gadd's Dimension Teleportificationtron machine is broken! Looks like finding Power Stars will be useless from now on. At least the heroes are more aware that they have to steal back the Jeweled Scepter from Metal Sonic. And don't think this is a goodbye for Professor Gadd. He'll still be seen in the story, but not as much as he does in previous chapters.**_

**_Hey! Princess Peach has gotten the Cyan Chaos Emerald, if I believe. That makes her a star children, along with Junior, Wario, Yoshi, Luigi and Donkey Kong. I wonder who could be the last star child. We'll find out soon._**

_**Anyway, this chapter finally shows Bowser getting some action in this story once again! Although, Eggman doesn't appear, he does get a little shout-out in the letter Bowser wrote. ;)**_

_**I've introduced a few new items in the story, such as the Item Bag. This power-up was inspired by the Mario Party 3 item of the same name. In that game, the Item Bag would give the player three random items, which is pretty helpful. **_

_**The steel hammers can be seen as an upgrade to Mario and Luigi's wooden hammer they received from the Yoshi chief back at Yoshi's Island. That happened in Chapter 6: Airship Chase! Run! (which was almost 34 chapters ago! :O )**_

_**The Warp Whistle was first introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3. (that game was AMAZING btw!) I remember there being 3-4 Warp Whistles in that game. Idk, it's been awhile. The Warp Whistle was used to transport you to the Warp Zone. But in this story, it teleports the user to a specific location.**_

_**Well, hope you guys enjoyed reading this week's chapter. Make sure you come back next week to read the next chapter. Remember, every Saturday evening is when I post. And thanks for those who have been supporting me all this time. **_

_**Bye for now!**_

_**P.S. It's November now! Yay! That means great games such as Sonic Generations and Super Mario 3D Land are being released this month! Man, I gotta buy them soon.**_

_********__****__****__**********-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**_


	41. Dark Land!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 41: Dark Land!**_

* * *

**_Dark Land, Bowser's Castle_**

Everyone was busy preparing for the arrival of the heroes. Goombas and Koopa Troopas were rushing to their positions. Hammer Bros. and Boomerang Bros. were stocking up in their equipment. The airships and tanks were on standby mode and were positioned throughout the castle area. Bullet Bills were loaded into cannons that guarded around the castle.

Bowser was sitting in his throne with Kamek floating beside him on his broom. He had just called the whole army of the Koopa Troop to join him in the throne room for a meeting. In front of them, were soldiers of the Koopa Troops lined up in rows according to their species and rankings. Goombas were in the first row, followed by Koopa Troopas, then Buzzy Beetles, Hammer, Boomerang and Fire Bros, Magikoopas and last but not least, Lakitus. The whole room was filled with loud talking of the army. Bowser gave out a loud roar, hushing them into silence.

"Fellow troops, listen!" Bowser began talking. He sat up from his throne and walked to the edge of the throne's stairway, gazing to all of his soldiers. "We have planned vigorously for this day. Our countless failures in the past will no longer threaten us. Today, we _will_ triumph over the Mario Bros. This time, we will be victorious and the heroes will fall into a pit of defeat!" The Koopa Troops cheered loudly for their leader. They were determined to beat the Mario Bros. "I can assure you that he will not come alone, for he will bring reinforcements with him. So I demand that you do not hesitate to charge at them with all the strength, anger and willpower you have inside you. Let it all loose and we _will _defeat the Mario Bros. and their furry friends!"

The Koopa Troops cheered again for their leader. They had the feeling that nothing was going to stop them now. Kamek asked Bowser where he should position his first group of defense. The koopa king told him to place them near the outreaches of the castle volcano, preferably in the plains of Dark Land. That way, they could spot the heroes easier and if they were to smash through the first defense, the other defenses near the castle could prepare for them.

"I will do as you desire, your Grouchiness." Kamek answered to Bowser's orders. He quickly rallied up the members of the first defense team and marched them out to thier positions. The second defense team marched out to their positions outside the castle's volcano and the third defense team, the strongest one of the three, marched to their positions around the castle. Bowser was sure that their plan was going to work, no matter what. After all, they had their secret weapon in play.

Just then, Eggman entered the throne room. "Bowser, I have just placed our doomsday machine where you asked me to place it." Bowser approved to Eggman's action. The koopa king told him to wait inside the machine until he gave them the signal. Eggman was shocked, then reminded Bowser of something. "But, the doomsday machine does not have any power yet! I cannot use it without any energy!"

"WHAT!" Bowser roared in anger. "Are you trying to fool me?" Eggman slowly shook his head, a bit afraid of what Bowser might. The koopa king stomped a foot on the floor. "Grrr, what happened to the soldier that was supposed to look for the Power Star tonight?

"Well, apparently he didn't see a Power Star land anywhere." Eggman explained to Bowser. The koopa king slapped a hand on his forehead and told Eggman to just go to his position as he'll find a power source for their doomsday machine himself. Eggman rushed out of the room and headed to where the doomsday machine was placed. Bowser sighed as he began to head out of the throne room as well, needing to look for a power source.

"Things are about to become hectic. Am I right princess?" Bowser said as he looked up to the roof of the throne room. Up there, hanging on the roof, was a steel cage. Inside was Princess Peach. She was sitting down with a look of despair on her face. She didn't say anything to Bowser's question.

Bowser walked out of the throne room and headed through the hallways of the castle. He was unaware that Junior had listened to their conversation between him and Eggman outside the throne room's door. He was aware of their predicament. _It looks like papa needs some energy..._ The koopaling dug into his pocket and took out the Purple Chaos Emerald. He stared at it, feeling hesitant to what he was about to do. Junior nodded to himself and quickly headed to where he knew the doomsday machine was located.

_It's just a little bit of energy after all..._

* * *

**_Plains of Dark Land_**

The plains of dark land had a sinister atmosphere around it. The plains were made up of dark gray lava rocks. All around were active volcanoes that filled the land. There were various rivers and lakes of overflowing magma. The magma was scorching hot, possibly hotter than the sun. It would melt through any solid object. The skies of Dark Land were no beauty either. It was usually covered by volcanic ashes and clouds covered the sky, blocking out the nightsky.

Somewhere in the plains was a red warp pipe. Since Dark Land itself was far away from the Mushroom Kingdom, the quickest way to get there was the warp pipe itself. No one dared to enter the warp pipe on the other side. Only the bravest would jump into it and face the dangers of Dark Land. Today, seven heroes would jump out of it. Thier mission was to save a friend of theirs from the ruler of Dark Land itself.

"Yahooo!" Luigi shouted as he exited out of the pipes. He landed on the hard ground of the Dark Land plains. He looked aroung, gazing at the sight of Dark Land. "Man, I''m not surprised Bowser placed his main castle here. It fits his personality; dark and fiery."

The rest of the heroes jumped out of the warp pipe and looked around Dark Land. Sonic and his friends have never been to a land of fire before, so this was a new experience for them. Sonic commented about the place. "Heh, this place looks really evil. Almost as evil as Eggmans bases."

Mario looked around, trying to remember where Bowser's Castle was located. He motioned the heroes to follow him. "Let's-a go. We have to rescue the princess." He began walking throughout the plains, the heroes followed closely behind.

They heard the distance eruptions of volcanoes while the heroes journeyed throughout Dark Land. They hopped through flowing lava rivers by jumping on boulders that floated by. The heroes continued walking until they heard a loud rumbling sound. It was followed by the shaking of the ground. "Wah! What's going on!" Tails shouted as he tried to keep balance.

Just then, a volcano erupted right by them. The heroes didn't notice it because it was hidden by a large pile of burnt rock. When the volcano erupted, it exploded out chunks of boiling molten rock. It rained all across the volcano area. Unfortunately, the heroes were right in that area. Yoshi was the first to notice the raining debris. "Look out! Raining fire rocks!"

"Quick! We have to find cover!" Sonic shouted to them. He and the others began to run from the falling molten rocks. The rocks poured down from the sky and landed into the ground dangerously. The heroes dodged the best they could to avoid getting struck by the flaming rocks. They quickly found a burnt, abandoned ruin stuck in the plains with a stone roofing. They quickly hid under it.

Suddenly, a huge molten rock crashed through the outer-edge of the ruins roofs, landing in front of the heroes and digging itself in the ground. This really shocked the heroes as it was a close call for them. After a few minutes, the molten rock rain stopped. The heroes cautiously crawled out from the ruin, looking around to see if there were still any rocks falling from the sky.

Knuckles wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, relieved the horror was over. "Man, how is Bowser able to live in these conditions? Why couldn't he place his castle out in a field full of dancing flowers. Geez, anyplace but here is fine with me!" Sonic simply told him to shut up and get over it.

"So Mario, where should we go now?" Sonic asked the plumber. He turned to him, realizing he was looking out at something. The rest of the heroes looked to what he was gazing at. There, out in the distance, was a small fleet of airships and tanks rolling away from a humongous volcano. Each vehicle had the logo of the koopa king on the side. The heroes knew where Bowser's Castle was now.

"Whoa, look at all those machines." Tails said in awe. He turned to Sonic and asked him how were they going to handle the machines. The hedgehog shrugged, then turned to Mario and asked what his idea was. The plumber thought for a moment and soon remembered the Item Bag that Toadsworth gave to them. He turned to Yoshi and asked him to give the Item Bag.

The dinosaur quickly gave the Item Bag to Mario. He opened the bag and reached inside, hoping to grab a useful power-up. The plumber felt the power-up inside and took it out of the bag. The heroes gasped, surprised to what the power-up was. In Mario's hand, was an enormous Mushroom. It had an orange cap with red spots on it.

"Uhm...excuse me, but what exactly _is _that thing?" Amy asked, poking the cap of the Mushroom. Knuckles joked, saying it was obviously a Mushroom. Amy glared at him and told him she wanted to know what _kind _of Mushroom it was. Mario explained to them it was a Mega Mushroom. It was a mushroom that could make the user grow into the size of a giant!

"Pretty cool." Sonic said. He rubbed the bottom of his chin and asked who should use the power-up against the fleet of tanks and airships. Suddenly, everyone turned their heads toward Yoshi. The dinosaur realized they were all looking at him. His eyes grew wide in surprise.

"...what are you looking at me for?"

* * *

Meanwhile on one of Bowser's airships, Kamek was standing near the bow of the ship. He was gazing throughout the plains of Dark Land, intending to find the heroes and shoot them with a surprise attack of Bullet Bills. He turned over to the rest of the airships and shouted at them. "We need to cover more ground! Spread out!" He pointed one of the airships to search in one directions and another to go in the opposite. The tanks did the same thing and seperated in different directions.

"Hmph! This plan is full proof." Kamek said, under his breath. He was determined to please the koopa king by defeating the heroes and bringing their lifeless bodies to him. He started laughing maniacally at the thought. Oh boy, the magikoopa would have loved for that to happen. Suddenly, the Koopa Troopa who was steering the airship called out to him. Kamek turned to him, asking what was wrong. The Koopa Troopa pointed out in the distance. Kamek looked and couldn't believe what he saw.

Out in the distance, was a humongous, green Yoshi that was stomping towards their fleet. On the back of it, were the rest of the heroes. They seemed to be enjoying the ride and cheering in excitement. "Wooohooo! Yeah! Giddy up Yoshi!" Luigi exclaimed. He patted the back of Giant Yoshi's neck. Giant Yoshi smiled back to them, then quickly turned back to the fleet. He gave them an angry look.

"My goodness!" Kamek yelled in confusion. "How is this even possible!" He quickly disregarded the comment and shouted back to the other airships and tanks, telling them to shoot at the giant Yoshi heading towards them. The machines did as they were told and began to shoot Bullet Bills towards the giant Yoshi from their cannons. Kamek hopped onto his broom and quickly flew off his airship, taking out his wand in the process.

Tails noticed the barrage of Bullet Bills being shot and pointed at them. "Hey! Watch out!" Giant Yoshi noticed the Bullet Bills. He quickly swatted a group of them away with his hand like a housefly. He knocked the other group of Bullet Bills with his nose. It didn't seem to hurt the dinosaur.

"Haha! Awesome!" Knuckles exclaimed. "You know, I'm starting to like this dinosaur."

The airships and tanks continued to shoot Bullet Bills at Giant Yoshi, but he only continued to swat them away with ease. He began to come closer to the fleet. Kamek was floating on his broomstick. He was in the air right above the dinosaur. He began to wave his wand, preparing a shrinking spell. "Hah! This will teach the dinosaur to mess with the king's machines!" The magikoopa shot the spell towards Giant Yoshi, but it missed him. Kamek yelled in frustration. "Drat!"

Giant Yoshi now faced an airship. He looked at it angrily and suddenly shot his tongue at to it and swallowed it in it's mouth. He turned to a tank and spat out the airship towards it. The airship collided with the tank, causing a big explosion. The crew members on those machines flew into the air. The heroes cheered for Giant Yoshi. The dinosaur seemed to enjoy what he was doing.

"Grr! That Yoshi is destroying the king's machines like a toddler smashing his toys!" Kamek growled in frustration. He shot another shrinking spell towards Giant Yoshi, but that one missed as well. Giant Yoshi proceeded to stomp on a tank with both his feet. The crew members quickly rushed out of the tank before Giant Yoshi crushed it like a soda can. The dinosaur then swatted at another airship. The pilot of that airship lost control and crashed it into the ground, causing another big explosion.

"Keep it up, Yoshi!" Mario exclaimed to him. They were closing in on Bowser's Castle. Giant Yoshi swatted away another airship with his tail, causing it to fly off into the distance. He quickly began to proceed to the humongous volcano where Bowser's Castle was situated in.

Kamek saw this and quickly conjured up another shrinking spell and shot it towards the giant dinosaur. To Kamek's pleasure, the spell hit the back of Giant Yoshi. The spell instantly began to take effect. Yoshi started shrinking back to his regular size, causing the heroes to fall off of him. They landed hard on the ground, but quickly recovered from the fall. Sonic pointed to the volcano, which only a few feet away from them. "We're almost there! Come on!" He sped to the rim of the volcano while the others followed closely behind.

"Quick! After them!" Kamek shouted to the remaining troops. Goombas, Koopa Troopas and Hammer Bros that survived the wreckage of the airships and tanks chased after the heroes. They realized they wouldn't be able to catch up to them, so the troops came up with a plan. Koopa Troopas hid inside their shells while the Goombas kicked them forward as hard as they could, causing the shells to shoot at the heroes at very fast speeds.

A Koopa shell skidded across the ground and successfully hit Luigi's back, knocking him down onto the ground. Knuckles saw this and quickly helped him up. By then, another Koopa shell was shot towards the two. Knuckles quickly reacted and punched the shell back towards the attackers. The shell knocked away the Goombas and Koopa Troopas like bowling pins.

"Hoho! Nice strike!" Luigi complimented Knuckles and thanked him.

The Hammer Bros continued to chase after the heroes. They took out their hammers and threw them forcefully towards the heroes. Mario looked back and saw a hammer about to hit Tails, so he quickly took out his steel hammer Toadsworth gave to him and swung it against the thrown hammer, knocking it back to the Hammer Bro and hitting him in the head, knocking him out. "

"Whoa...thanks Mario." Tails said to the plumber and gave him a thumbs-up. Mario nodded to him and they both continued their way onto Bowser's Volcano.

The heroes were getting closer to the volcano. Kamek was frustrated his defense team couldn't even stop the heroes. They were completely useless! "Bah! I'm going to have to put this matter into my hands!" Kamek chased after the heroes with his broom. He conjured up a fireball spell from his wand and shot it towards the heroes. The fireball narrowly missed the heroes.

Sonic noticed the attack and quickly turned back to Kamek. He quickly charged up a spin-dash attack. At the same time, Kamek charged up another fireball spell, except a much bigger one. The two attacks were shot at the same time. Sonic sped across the rocky ground, towards the flaming fireball. He jumped over the fireball, flew through the air and quickly initiated a Homing Attack onto Kamek.

The magikoopa couldn't react in time and was hit by the Homing Attack. The attack knocked him off his broom and caused him to roll across the ground, dropping his wand in the process. Kamek slowly looked up, seeing Sonic taunting him by wiggling his finger. The hedgehog turned back and sped back to the others. Kamek punched his fist on the ground, upset he was defeated. "I have failed you, your Gnarliness..."

Sonic caught up to the other heroes, who were waiting for him near the edge of the volcano. He looked inside the volcano and saw what they were looking for. Right in the middle of the volcano was Bowser's Castle. It stood there on top of a large island made up of melted boulders. A bridge made of rock connected itself between the castle's entrance and the edge of the volcano. Under all this was the hot, boiling magma. The heroes stood at the beginning of the rock bridge, gazing at Bowser's Castle.

"So that's where the princess is." Sonic said to the others. He looked back down into the volcano, seeing the magma flowing around inside the volcano hole. "That lava looks hot. We better be careful crossing this rocky bridge.

"Ehh, can't be _that _bad." Knuckles tried to assure him. He picked up a small pebble on the ground and tossed it into the magma. His eyes widened in horror as the pebble landed into the magma and quickly caught on fire. It slowly sunk into the magma flow, melting in the process. "Ummm...never mind."

"No matter what, we _must _save the princess." Mario told the others. He motioned them to follow him as he rushed across the rocky bridge. They knew that the closer they got to the castle, the closer they got to their arch nemesis, Bowser and Eggman, who were in no doubt waiting for them. But they had to rescue Peach.

Just as the heroes reached the halfway point of the bridge, they heard a loud boom in the air, as if something had just been shot. They looked around, wondering where the boom had came from. "Over there! Look!" Amy shouted as she pointed into the air. Right above them was a humongous Banzai Bill flying towards them. Apparently it was shot from Bowser's Castle.

The heroes quickly ran forward to the castle, running out of the Banzai Bill's range. The Banzai Bill crashed into the rock bridge. The whole bridge started to crack and crumble apart from the force and weight of the Banzai Bill. Pieces of the bridge fell into the boiling magma below. Cracks began to from across the bridge. The heroes had to hurry if they didn't want to fall into the magma, along with the bridge.

As the heroes reached the end of the rock bridge and onto the island Bowser's Castle was on, a huge crack formed on the bridge near them. The crack caused part of the bridge to fall down into the lava. Unfortunately, Amy was on the other side of the crack and she tumbled down along with the bridge piece. She shrieked out for help. "Aahh! Help!"

Sonic noticed this. Even though he was already safe on the island, he ran back onto the crumbling bridge to save Amy. He jumped off the bridge and dived down for her. He reached out for her hand and pulled her close to him. They both were about to hit the boiling magma when luckily Yoshi spat his tongue down towards the two hedgehogs and caught them. The dinosaur heaved them back up onto the castle island. The two hedgehogs laid there on the ground, still clutching each other. Amy was on top of Sonic. The two stared at each other for a moment. "Uh..are you okay?" Sonic asked her.

"You...saved me." Amy said, a bit surprised. Sonic looked at her with a puzzled look. He hadn't been aware of the consequences of diving head first towards boiling lava. Amy continued "you just risked your life...to save me." Sonic simply shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal to him. He was quickly suffocated by a hug from Amy "OH, Sonic! You really do care about me!"

"Amy!" Sonic yelped in an annoyed voice. "We don't have time for this. We're on a rescue mission, remember?" The other heroes simply watched as Amy continued to hug Sonic. After a few minutes, Amy got off of Sonic. The blue hedgehog dusted himself as he stood up.

Knuckles looked to where the rock bridge used to be. It was now completely submerged in the volcano's magma. "Well, there is no way we're going back that way." The only way they could escape from Bowser's Castle was to use the Warp Whislte Toadsworth gave to them. They had to make sure they didn't lose it.

Mario walked up to the doors of Bowser's Castle. He stared up to them. He wondered where his enemy hid the princess. All the heroes had to do was find Peach and use the Warp Whistle to get themselves out of the castle. It was easier said than done. The plumber knew that Bowser's forces would stop at nothing to prevent them from reaching the princess. But if the heroes worked together, they could accomplish their mission.

Luigi went up to his brother and put a hand to his shoulder. He gave Mario a simple nod, which told him he was ready when Mario was. Mario nodded back to him and turned back to the others, who all nodded back to him.

_This is it. _Mario thought to himself. _We cannot turn back now. _He turned to the castle doors. They suddenly opened up, as if Bowser and Eggman had been expecting them, which of course they were. Mario took a deep breath and entered the castle. The heroes followed him inside. The castle doors slowly closed shut behind them. The turning of a lock was heard. There was no escape for the heroes now.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_After a grueling journey through the plains of Dark Land, our heroes have finally reached Bowser's Castle! What traps have Bowser and Eggman readied for them? Will the heroes be able to rescue Princess Peach? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Wow, there was a lot of action happening in this chapter. I solely wanted to focus the journey Mario, Sonic and their friends faced in reaching Bowser's Castle. The next chapter will focus on their search for the princess inside Bowser's Castle, all while avoiding the traps and enemies they encounter. Plus, maybe they'll finally face their longtime arch-nemesis. We'll see.**

**The Mega Mushroom debuted in the New Super Mario Bros. game. I had a lot of fun using the power-up to bash through blocks and pipes. It's a shame it wasn't used in New Super Mario Bros Wii. But it was used as an item in Mario Kart Wii, which I thought was cool!**

**The tanks that appear in this chapter are the ones based off in Super Mario Bros. 3. You remember the level in Dark Land where you walk have to across a whole bunch of tanks while they shoot cannonballs at you? Yes, that one. Man, so much chaos happened in that level that I died a lot there. Ahhh, good times.**

**We finally see the appearance of Kamek. It's been a VERY long time since we've seen Kamek. I guess I didn't have the time to put him into previous chapters. But he is an important character in this story, so you'll be seeing more of him in the future. And in regards to the Koopa Troop minions,**

**Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter. Make sure to come back next week to read the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who has supported me. Bye for now! :D**

******__****__****__************-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	42. Castle Crashers!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 42: Castle Crashers!_**

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Junior's Bedroom_**

It was another scorching night inside Bowser's Castle. Every inch of the castle felt like you were inside a furnace. Junior's bedroom was no exception. The koopaling laid down on his prince-side bed, exhausted from a day of kidnapping. After helping his father kidnap the princess, he suddenly became tired, so he headed off to his bedroom and decided to take a nap while his father prepared for the arrival of the heroes.

Junior had just woken up from his short slumber. He slowly sat up and stretched. He looked beside him. There, was the Purple Chaos Emerald lying on the bed. He picked it up and examined it, remembering what he did with it just before he went to sleep.

_I wonder how papa's doomsday machine is doing with the power of the Chaos Emerald._ Junior thought to himself. The koopaling remembered how he had to sneak by Eggman and into the holding room of the Doomsday Machine so he could transfer some of the energy into the machine itself. He didn't know how exactly he did, but he somehow put some of the energy into the machine by simply thinking about it.

_Man! Chaos Emeralds are so cool!_ Junior thought to himself once again. He quickly got out of his bed and looked out his bedroom window, seeing the boiling magma outside the castle's volcano. He thought about the shadow figure. _I wonder what he's up to right now._

Suddenly, a purple shroud of mist appeared behind Junior. The koopaling turned around, surprised by the sudden entrance of the shadow figure. Junior growled a little, angered. "Geez! Stop doing that! You've done that like five times already and it keeps scaring me!"

The shadow figure apologized. He began to explain to Junior that he had finally delivered the final Chaos Emerald to the last Star Child's home. Junior hopped in glee, delighted to hear the news. "Alright! That's awesome! So..." He stopped hopping, thinking about the next step of their plan. "...when are we going to create the portal to the Negative Dimension?"

_"Soon enough Junior." _the shadow figure spoke. He was glad he finally completed the process of delivering the Chaos Emeralds to the seven Star Children. He knew they were closer to a supply of ultimate power. He looked into Junior's hand, seeing the Purple Chaos Emerald. It still didn't seem to glow when around the koopaling. "_I still find it strange that the Chaos Emerald does not glow when around you. The Star Children and Chaos Emeralds are supposed to act like magnets around each other, and when they are both close to one another, the Chaos Emerald should be glowing."_

Junior looked down to the Chaos Emerald and shrugged. "Maybe I'm just special! Heheh." Junior chuckled, trying to brighten the shadow figure's mood. The shadow figure only nodded to him. He walked up to Junior's bedroom, looking up to the sky of Dark Plains.

_"I was heading to your castle when I saw a few broken battle tanks outside your father's territory."_ The shadow figure told Junior. "_"May I ask why they seem to be simply out there like that."_

Junior thought for a moment. "Hmm...it must've been Mario and the others." He was a bit ashamed the heroes had passed through the first wall of defense. "Apparently they're supposed to be coming here along with Sonic and his friends to rescue Princess Peach from my papa. He and Eggman are using her to bait them so they can defeat the heroes with their new doomsday machine."

The shadow figure was shocked by the news. His glowing red eyes grew wide in surprise as he turned to Junior to confirm the news. _"Are you telling me that Sonic, Mario and the others are coming here? To fight the doctor and your father?" _Junior nodded at the shadow figure. _"No...this isn't good...if your father successfully defeats the heroes, then our plan will be wasted. I cannot allow your father to do this!"_

"What are you saying?" Junior asked him. "Are you telling me your going to stop my papa's plan into defeating the heroes! You can't do that! He worked hard!" Junior ran up to his bedroom door and blocked it. "I won't let you do this!"

The shadow figure pointed his shadow paintbrush towards Junior. reminding him about their mission. _"Junior, listen to me. Mario, his brother, his dinosaur friend and his princess are crucial to our plans. They are the Star Children! If they somehow get killed, then we won't be able to enter the Negative Dimension! I need to find them and protect them until then!"_

Junior hesitated for a moment. He knew the shadow figure was right, but he simply couldn't let him interfere with his papa's work. He had to think deeply about his decision. Which was the more important plan?

"...alright." Junior said, backing away from his door. "You win. I'll let you stop my papa's plan." The shadow figure praised his decision. He quickly disappeared in a mist of shadow, intending to find the heroes before Bowser and Eggman found them.

Junior walked up to his bed and sat onto it. He looked at the Purple Chaos Emerald in his hand and sighed. Never once had he betrayed his own papa.

_I hope I made the right decision._

* * *

**_Dark Land, Inside Bowser's Castle_**

It was dreadfully quiet in the hallways of Bowser's Castle. The heroes were standing in the hallway near the entrance. Behind them was the big, metallic door they used to enter the giant castle. A long, green carpet spread across the hallway, which led to a big, red door on the other side. There were torches placed on the walls of the hallway, lighting it up in a red glow. The heroes wondered where Princess Peach was hidden.

The heroes had just made their way through the defenses outside Bowser's Volcano. Now they were in his fortress, intending to rescue Princess Peach.

"This place kinda gives me the creeps." Tails commented while looking around the hallway. He chuckled, wondering why all of a sudden he was scared. It was probably because they were in the lair of an evil turtle beast.

"Don't worry buddy," Sonic said to his fox friend, trying to comfort him. "As long as we stick together, we'll be fine."

"Sooo..." Knuckles began. He turned to Mario, who was thinking of a plan to find Peach at the moment. "Where do you think you're princess is hiding in this gigantic castle?" Mario simply shrugged. Knuckles suggested him an idea. "Hey, why don't we just punch our way through the castle until we find the princess?" He started doing quick punches in the air. The echidna was desperate to fight.

"I'm not sure if you do that in your world," Luigi spoke to Knuckles. "but punching our way through castles isn't exactly what we do. We don't only just rely on brute strength, but also on our acrobatic jumping abilities and our intelligent thinking." The plumber grinned as he tapped onto his noggin.

"Wait a minute...are you telling me I'm stupid?" Knuckles quickly assumed from Luigi's statement. He shoved his face into the plumbers. It was beginning to fill up with rage. Luigi, surprised from Knuckles's sudden burst of anger, quickly backed off.

"Whoa whoa whoa, chill down, knucklehead." Luigi said. Suddenly, he heard Knuckles beginning to growl at him. At first, Luigi was confused, but soon realized his mistake. "Oh no, wait! I didn't mean to call you knucklehead! I swear! I just thought that was your name for a few seconds!"

"GRR! I'M GOING TO RIP THAT MOUSTACHE OFF YOUR FACE!" Knuckles shouted at the plumber. Luigi shrieked in horror and began to fled from Knuckles. The echidna chased after the plumber around the hallway, punching into the walls.

"Ugh...here we go again." Sonic sighed, putting a hand onto his forehead and shaking it. He shouted to the two. "Hey, guys! Quiet down! Someone's going to hear us and our cover will be blown for a surprise attack!"

Knuckles continued to chase Luigi around the hallway. There seemed to be no end to this chase, as the echidna was determined to clobber the green plumber. It was going to be the last time Knuckles would allow Luigi to come off with a provoking remark to him and get away with it. Suddenly, Knuckles found himself being hit on the head by a large, yellow hammer. He fell face forward onto the floor, completely dazed from the attack.

The heroes watched in bewilderment as Amy put her Piko Piko Hammer back into her pocket. She turned to the others, seeing their surprised looks and shrugged to them. "What? He was getting on my nerves!"

"Oh don't worry about that. He was getting on our nerves too." Yoshi said, giving her a thumbs-up of approval. Suddenly, the heroes heard someone banging on the red door in the hallway. It was no doubt one of the Koopa Troop minions who heard them. The heroes quickly got into their battle positions.

The door quickly slammed open and out popped in two Boomerang Bros. They each held their white boomerangs in their hands. They realized it was the heroes who were making the noises inside Bowser's Castle. One of them pointed at them and shouted to his partner. "Quick! Don't let them get away!"

The two Boomerang Bros threw their boomerangs towards the heroes. Mario and Luigi quickly deflected the attack by knocking the boomerangs back towards the Boomerang Bros with their hammers. The boomerangs hit both the Boomerang Bros, knocking them out. Mario and Luigi high-fived each other for their victory. The heroes rushed towards the unconscious Boomerang Bros.

"What do we do with them?" Tails asked. The others thought for a moment. Sonic looked at Yoshi for a moment, then came up with a brilliant plan. The dinosaur realized Sonic was staring at him. He raised an eyebrow in curiousty.

"...what are you looking at me for?"

* * *

"Ugh...my head hurts..." one of the Boomerang Bros. said in a tired voice. He looked around him, finding that he was sitting in the middle of the hallway near the entrance of the castle. "Hey Larry, are you okay?" He looked around for the other Boomerang Bro, but suddenly realized he was tied up with him by this red rope. "What the-what's the meaning of this?" The Boomerang Bro struggled to free himself, but the rope was too tight for him.

"I'm-a tell you what's going on," someone suddenly spoke out to him. The Boomerang Bros looked up and realized the Mario was walking up to him. He had a serious look on his face.

"Mario! What do you want?" the Boomerang Bro shouted at him. "And what is this red rope that you tied me up with?"

Sonic walked out from behind Mario, his face also having a serious look. "This red rope that's bounding you...is all thanks to our dinosaur friend." He pointed to Yoshi, who was behind the two captured Boomerang Bros. His tongue was what the two minions were tied with. Yoshi had an annoyed look on his face, couldn'y believing what he was doing with himself.

"Don't think I'm enjoying this more than you." Yoshi simply said.

"Now, you two are going to tell me where the princess is," Mario said, kneeling down to the Boomerang Bros. "unless you and your friend beside you want to become Yoshi's appetizing dinner." At first, the Boomerang Bro refused to answer them. But suddenly, he felt himself being slowly pulled towards Yoshi's mouth.

"You know, I am pretty hungry right now!" Yoshi said, trying to intimidate the Boomerang Bros.

"Gah! Alright I'll tell you where the princess is at!" the Boomerang Bro gave in. He explained to the heroes that Peach was being held captive inside the castle's throne room. He told them the throne room was located on the other side of the castle from their location. "Alright! I told you everything I know! Now can you let me and my pal go?"

Mario and Sonic looked at each other for a moment, then nodded to the Boomerang Bros. Yoshi pulled back his tongue into his mouth, relieved it was over. The Boomerang Bros thought they were safe, but suddenly Luigi and Knuckles jumped out from behind Mario and Sonic. They jumped towards the two Boomerang Bros and knocked them out with a powerful punch and a hammer swing on the head.

"Hahah! Oh man, that was hilariously awesome!" Luigi exclaimed, putting his hammer back into his pocket. He turned to Knuckles. "Did you see the look on their faces when they realized they were about to be Yoshi's dinner?"

"Yeah! Man that was funny!" Knuckles answered to Luigi. "And did you see the funny looks on their faces when we were about to pummel them?" Luigi laughed and agreed with him. The two quickly high-fived with each other. The other heroes were quite relieved the two could finally work together.

"Alright you two, I know that was a little bit of fun." Sonic said to them. He quickly reminded them of what their mission was. They had to save Princess Peach and now that they had a rough idea of where she was being held, the only thing they had to do was get to the location and rescue her.

"This won't be easy though," Mario reminded them as he took out his steel hammer. "a whole bunch of Bowser's minion will be roaming around the castle looking for us. We'll need to keep our guard up while we look for the princess."

The heroes agreed. This wouldn't be a walk in the park. They would have to go through Bowser's dangerous traps throughout the castle and fight against brutal amounts of enemies. But if they worked together, they would succeed in their mission.

Tails peeked out through the red door of the hallway that led into the rest of the castle. Inside, was a huge room full of boiling lava. There were cage platforms scattered across the whole room. On the sides of the lava room, were Bullet Bill cannons which were prepared to shoot anything that passed by. On the opposite side of the room was another red door. He looked to the others. "Are you guys ready?"

"Open up that door, Tails." Sonic said, pointing at the door. "we have a princess to save!"

Tails nodded and swung the door open. The heroes rushed inside the room. They all jumped onto a cage platform. They looked around, seeing the lava bubble around them. Suddenly, Podoboos started jumping out of the lava and jumped towards the heroes, trying to set them on fire. The heroes dodged the fire enemies as they jumped from cage platform to cage platform.

The Bullet Bill cannons realized the heroes presence and started shooting Bullet Bills at them. The Bullet Bills homed in on the heroes. Mario and Luigi took out their steel hammers and deflected the Bullet Bills back with ease, shooting them down into the lava. The Bullet Bills continued being shot at the heroes, but the Mario Bros, simply deflected each and every one of them.

The heroes reached the other side of the lava room. Tails opened up the red door, peaking into it. On the other side, was another hallway, except it was much longer than the previous hallway. On the other side, was another red door. It stood on a floating platform. Under that platform, seemed to be a large, spiked pillar that aimed itself towards the door Tails was peaking out of.

"Uhm, Sonic, this room looks kinda suspicious." Tails told. Sonic peaked into the hallway and noticed the spiked pillar. Suddenly, the spiked pillar climbed out from where it was hiding. It shot itself through the hallway. Sonic panicked and closed the door. A loud bang was heard from the other side. Sonic carefully peaked back into the hallway, seeing the spiked pillar slowly rolling back to it's original position.

"Hmm, this would be a piece of cake for me." Sonic said to himself. But he had to think about the others. They weren't as fast as him. He turned to them and told them they had to rush through the hallway if they didn't want to be squished by the spiked pillar. The others assured him they would be able to make it. "Alright then, on my mark." He held his hands up, holding three fingers in the air. Tails opened up the door for them. Sonic waited until the spiked pillar went back to it's complete original position. He counted down from three. "3...2...1...now!"

The heroes quickly entered the hallway, running as fast as they could. Once they reached the halfway point of the hallway, they heard the sound of the spiked pillar about to shoot out. The had to run quicker. Unfortunately, Luigi was running so fast that he tripped and fell in the hallway. Mario ran back for him and help him up.

Sonic and the others reached the platform holding the door. Mario and Luigi were still running towards them. Suddenly, the spiked pillar shot towards the two plumbers. The others panicked and shouted for the Mario Bros. Seeing the spiked pillar shooting towards them, Mario looked around in the hallway. He saw a small hole in the wall that he and his brother could use to avoid the spiked pillar. He pointed it to Luigi. Seeing the hole, Luigi dived right into it. Mario quickly followed him inside.

The spiked pillar barely missed them. It slammed onto the other side of the hallway with a strong, crushing force. The spiked pillar slowly rolled itself back under the platform Sonic and the others were standing on. They thought that the Mario Bros. were crushed by the pillar, until Mario popped out of the hole and waved back to them.

"Mario!" Sonic yelled to him and waved back. The others were grateful he and Luigi were okay. As Mario was about to climb out of the hole, Luigi grabbed his arm. He began to point deeper into the hole. Mario looked into the hole, seeing nothing but darkness inside. Mario told Luigi it was nothing, but his younger brother told him to quiet down and listen. Mario suddenly heard the echoes of the cries of the princess. The hole they were in was actually a tunnel that supposedly lead to the room where the princess was being held in.

"Peach!" Mario exclaimed. He began to crawl inside the tunnel, hoping to find the princess on the other side.

Luigi peeked out of the tunnel they were just in. He pointed to Sonic and the others, telling them to go on ahead without them. At first they were puzzled, but Luigi assured them he and his brother would be okay. Sonic and the other reluctantly left them, heading into the next room of the castle.

"Mario! Wait for me!" Luigi called back to his brother. He began to crawl after him. The tunnel was pretty small for Luigi, so he had to lower his head, making him not being able to see where he was going. The tunnel they were in ended up being pretty long. It had many turns, which resulted in Luigi bumping his head a few times. After a while, the Mario Bros. reached the end of the small tunnel. They crawled out of the tunnel hole, finding themselves in the very throne room of Bowser's Castle. The tunnel was hidden behind one of the throne room's curtains, so the Mario Bros. had to push it out of the way.

"Wow, that tunnel seemed really convenient for us, am I right Mario?" Luigi said to his brother while he looked around the throne room. At the moment, no one seemed to be inside the throne room other than them, which was pretty lucky for the two. Luigi looked to Mario, noticing he was looking up at the roof. Luigi looked up and saw the cage hanging up there. Inside, they saw Peach sitting inside, her head laying inside her hands.

"Princess Peach!" Mario called out to her. The princess lifted her head out of her arms, wondering who was calling her. She slowly looked out of the bars of the cage and saw the Mario Bros. waving up to her.

"Mario! Luigi!" Peach gasped in delight. She was happy to see them and knew that they were there to rescue her.

"Hi princess!" Luigi called back to her. "Don't worry! We'll get you down from there! Somehow!" He gently elbowed his brother and asked him what was his plan to get Peach out of the cage. Mario thought for a moment and soon remembered the Item Bag that Toadsworth gave to them. He quickly took it out and opened. He held his breath and dug his hand inside it, hoping they would receive a helpful power-up.

Mario took out the mystery power-up in the Item Bag and inspected it. It appeared to be a Super Mushroom except it had an orange cap on it's head and two beige spots on the side. The most distinguishing feature of the power-up was the yellow propeller that was placed on top of the mushroom cap. Mario instanyl recognized the power-up. It was the Propeller Mushroom!

"Wow, lucky you." Luigi commented to his brother. Mario quickly took in the energy of the Propeller Mushroom. The power-up suddenly disappeared in his hands. Suddenly, his clothes began to change. His overalls and shirt were replaced by a red flight suit with a white stripe down the middle of the torso. His shoes changed from brown to blue. His hat changed into a red helmet with a yellow propeller on top. An emblem of a red letter "M" in a white circle was on both sides of the helmet.

Mario was now Propeller Mario!

"Don't worry, princess! I'll rescue you!" Propeller Mario called out to her. Propeller Mario gave the Item Bag and the Warp Whistle to Luigi to hold on temporarily. The propeller on top of the helmet suddenly spun quickly, propelling Mario up into the air and near Peach's cage. Propeller Mario grabbed onto one of the bars, holding onto the side of the cage.

"Oh Mario, I knew you would rescue me." Peach said to her hero. She asked him how he was going to free her from her cage. Unfortunately Propeller Mario didn't think of a plan. At first, he tried ripping the bars out, but as he expected, nothing happened. He then took out his steel hammer and started banging on the bars, but that caused the cage to sway from the force, causing Peach to having to hold onto the bars to keep balance.

"Uhm, do you need any help, Mario?" Luigi called out to him. Propeller Mario assured his brother he didn't need his help and he could handle the problem all by himself. Luigi chuckled. "Heheh, whatever you say, bro."

"Yes...whatever you say, bro." another voice suddenly spoke out from the throne room. The three heroes were surprised to hear the other voice, as they thought they were the only ones in the room. They slowly turned their heads to the doors of the throne room, seeing a horrifying sight. There, standing right in front of the doors, was Bowser himself. He had an angry look on his face. A small mist of smoke came out of his nostrils.

"Oh...uhm...hiya Bowser." Luigi nervously said, backing away from the koopa king. Peach could only hold her hands to her mouth in shock, while Propeller Mario clenched both his hands and fist. He was

Bowser slowly chuckled from the situation. "Well, it seems that two pathetic little _bugs _happened to crawl into my throne room!" Bowser growled, slowly walking up to Luigi. The green plumber was deathly afraid of what the koopa king might do to him. "I guess I'm going to have to squish them!" Bowser's mouth opened as he prepared to shoot a fireball at Luigi when suddenly something fell onto his head. Bowser growled in pain as he looked to see what had hit him. On the floor, was Mario's steel hammer. The koopa king picked it up. Luigi took the opportunity to hide behind his throne chair.

Bowser began to growl as he picked up Mario's steel hammer. He looked up to the plumber. "How pathetic of you to drop you're hammer onto my head when I'm not looking!" Suddenly, Bowser threw the steel hammer towards Propeller Mario. The hammer missed him and instead, it hit the chain that held Peach's cage on the roof. The chain broke, causing the cage to fall onto the floor. The cage crashed on the floor, breaking into a a bunch of pieces. Propeller Mario and Peach landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"Oops..." Bowser said, surprised. He actually never meant to do that. But, as long as he hurt Propeller Mario, that was okay with the koopa king. He slowly walked up to Propeller Mario and grabbed him. "It's time for me to finish you, Mario! After all these years of stomping on my minions and foiling my plans, it's my time to get my revenge." Bowser prepared another fireball to shoot at Propeller Mario. But before he could shoot it at him, he was hit again by Mario's steel hammer, this time on this nose. He growled in pain as he dropped Propeller Mario onto the floor and grabbed onto his nose. "Grr! Who dares attack me while I'm about to destroy Mario?"

The koopa king turned and saw that Peach had thrown the hammer onto him. She simply stood there, holding her left arm with her right. She was still injured from the cage fall. Bowser was shocked that the princess would do such a thing. "I can't believe it. The princess of Mushroom Kingdom dares to commit such a violent act." He walked up to Peach and prepared to shoot a fireball at her, but quickly stopped. Bowser knew he couldn't dare harm the princess. To him, she was always delicate.

"Hey, Bowser!" Luigi suddenly called out to him. Bowser turned and was quickly hit by yet another steel hammer on the forehead. Luigi jumped in excitement. "Hahah! Take that!"

Bowser held onto his forehead, then suddenly let out a loud, ferocious roar. He stared at the Mario Bros. "That is the last time I'm going to get hit by a hammer in this castle." He took a few steps towards the Mario Bros and prepared another fireball in his mouth. He was determined to defeat the Mario Bros. once and for all.

The Mario Bros. quickly got into their battle positions. They knew that a long and epic battle would soon ensue in the throne room. Peach slowly backed away into a corner of the throne room as she watched the three stared at each other in a standoff.

* * *

"TAKE THIS! AND THAT! AND ONE OF THESE!" Knuckles shouted as he punched his way through hordes and hordes of Bowser's minions. Sonic and the others were fighting their way through the hallways of Bowser's Castle. After going through roomfs full of traps, they reached a hallway full of enemies. They knew their only choice was to fight the enemies. And that's what they did.

"Alright! This is what I call exciting!" Sonic said to the others as he began to chain Homing Attacks on enemies. He defeated so many Goombas and Koopa Troopas that he began to lose count. But that didn't matter to him. He was having fun.

Amy was swinging her Piko Piko Hammer wildly through the crowd of minions. A group of Hammer Bros surrounded her, but the pink hedgehog quickly swung her hammer in a circle, quickly taking care of the Hammer Bros. "You call those hammers? Nothing can match the power of _my _Piko Piko Hammer!"

"Wow, is it me, or does she seem a little scary when she fights?" Yoshi called out to Tails. At that moment, the dinosaur had just ground-pounded an enemy Goombas. A Koopa Troopa snuck up behind him, but Yoshi quickly noticed and swalloed the minion. He spit out the koopa shell, causing it to slide through the hallway, taking out many minions along the way.

"That's Amy Rose for you." Tails answered back to Yoshi. The fox quickly kicked away a Lakitu into a wall. He stared down into the castle hallway, noticing a few stairways at the end going downwards. He pointed at the stairs. "Sonic! I think we're almost there!"

Sonic stopped fighting for a minute and quickly glimpsed at the stairways. "Come on, guys! We have a princess to save!" Sonic then initiated a spin-dash attack and sped through the hallway, taking out the last few remaining minions. He rushed down the stairway while the others quickly followed him.

It was a long descent before the heroes reached the end of the stairway. At the bottom, was nothing but a strange-looking door the heroes had not seen in the castle yet. It was a large, green door. Spikes were built around the border of the doorway. The heroes wondered what was on the other side.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Open it!" Knuckles exclaimed to Sonic. The hedgehog nodded and slowly pushed the door open. Sonic gave a quick peek inside. There was nothing but darkness in the room. He entered the room cautiously. The others followed closely behind.

"Gee, where's a flashlight when you need one?" Yoshi complained. He walked around the dark room for a bit, holding his hands out to feel what's in front of him.. He soon reached an object. It had a metal surface to it. Yoshi knocked on the metal surface, wondering what it was. He couldn't see it in the dark.

"Did any of you guys find a lightswitch or something?" Sonic asked the others. The others said no, except for Yoshi. He told them he found some sort of metal object. "Hmm...interesting, point it out to me, Yoshi."

"Uhm...well it's right in front of me." the dinosaur answered back to Sonic. He couldn't really specify exactly where the object was at, because he couldn't see it in the total darkness.

Suddenly, two yellow, glowing orbs of light lit up from inside the room. It was if two eyes had just opened up. From the heroes perspective, the lights seemed to be floating in the air from about 50 feet. The sound of a large machine suddenly filled the room. The heroes wondered what was going on.

"Well, hello there Sonic! Long time no see!" the gruff voice of Eggman spoke out to the heroes. He hid inside the cockpit of his newly-created doomsday machine.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_Oh no! It looks like Sonic and the others found themselves in the room that holds Eggman's doomsday machine! What will happen to them? And the battle between the Mario Bros. and Bowser is about to unfold! Will Mario and Luigi become victorious and rescue Princess Peach? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! It looks like chaos is about to unfold between the heroes and villians! This is going to be an epic battle, I can assure you. It's been so long since they've encountered and fought each other. After a long wait, we finally get to see what happens! :D**

**Wow, this is a really long chapter! I guess I went overboard with this one. Don't think this will be the longest chapter though, as next week's chapter is going to be longer than usual chapters. Why? Well, there is SOOO much action happening that I'd have to extend the chapter to fit everything in it. Hopefully you guys will like the chapter anyway.**

**Heheh, you thought you'd finally get to see the design of the doomsday machine, hmm? Well, that's not until next week though, so you'll have to wait patiently. Don't you just hate it when I do this to you? That's what makes a story epic and interesting though. All the cliffhangers and twists endings. Well, that is what _I _think. I can tell you though, the design won't be that surprising to you, it's just that the danger of the machine is supposed to overwhelming to the heroes.**

**Hmm, isn't that ironic? Metal Sonic (the shadow figure) at first wanted to destroy the heroes, now he suddenly wants to protect them? Isn't that a weird roll of events? Although, this would only apply to Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Princess Peach, as they are the Star Children and crucial to his plans. He wouldn't care if Sonic and his friends were harmed.**

**I have to say, I like how I made Junior think over what was more important to him. His father's plan or Metal Sonic's plan. It showed that even though Metal Sonic's plan would ensure them ultimate power, Junior is still fateful to his father.**

**The Propeller Mushroom is introduced in the story! It first debuted in the game, New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I thought it was brilliant that Nintendo made a power-up such as this that uses the ability of the Wii Remote so well. Oh yeah, here's a fun fact about the game. There was supposed to be a Chicken-suit power-up. I'm not sure what the purpose was though. But interesting, eh?**

**Looks like Luigi and Knuckles seem to have problems with each other. It doesn't look like Knuckles isn't great with making new friends. Oh well, he's a knucklehead after all. (jk)**

**Hehe, I feel bad for Yoshi. Forced to use his tongue to bound up two minions of an evil turtle king. I'd totally hate that if that happened to me! ;)**

**Ahahah, I just noticed while reading over this chapter that the same way the Mario Bros. saved Princess Peach was the same way the heroes saved Amy Rose in a very early chapter in this story (Chapter 9: Rescuing Amy) Both instances the person being rescued is in a cage hanging on top of a roof _and_ a hammer is used to break them out of the cage. I did not have an intentions of making this similarity. It was just a sheer coincidence. :D**

**Well, that's all I have to say for this week's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed reading it, and thanks to everyone who has been supporting me. You're the best! Remember to check back next week for a new chapter and look at my profile for updates and such. If you have any questions, please don't be shy to PM me or ask in a review. ****Bye for now! :D**

******__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	43. The Doomsday Machine!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 43: The Doomsday Machine!_**

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Doomsday Machine Holding Room_**

Sonic and the others stared at the colossal machine that stood in front of them. The machine looked like an exact replica of a humongous Bowser, only it was in a deadly, mechanized robot form with the exact same color scheme as the real one. It towered over 50 feet in height.

"Oh...my...gosh..." Yoshi said in awe. There was nothing else he could say. He left his mouth wide-open, speechless at the sight of the gigantic Bowsermachine standing in front of them.

"Uhm Sonic," Knuckles whispered as he gently elbowed the blue hedgehog beside him. "Is it me, or is there a giant robot standing in front of us that looks somewhat like a turtle?"

"For once Knuckles, it isn't you this time." Sonic assured him. He continued to gaze upon the colossal robot. He knew that a certain someone made the Bowser machine. "Nice new toy you've got there, Eggman!"

The forehead of the Bowser machine suddenly opened up, revealing none other than Dr. Eggman sitting inside the machine's cockpit. "Hohoho! It's good to finally see you again, my furry little hedgehog!" Eggman said in a mocking way. Around him was a panel of flashing buttons that supposedly controlled the Bowser machine. He patted on the surface of the machine in an appreciative manner. "You like my new toy? I like to simply call it the _Giant Bowser Mecha_!"

"I wonder how long it took him to come up with the name..." Tails whispered to himself as he rolled his eyes.

"Grr! I heard that!" Eggman shouted at the fox in frustration. The doctor hated it when someone would bash his hard work. "Atleast try to appreciate the dedication and effort I put towards this robot. After all, I've made this robot specially for you heroes!"

"Face it Eggman, no matter what you do, we'd never appreciate any of _your _work!" Amy said as she got her Piko Piko Hammer ready for battle.

"Hmph! Like I would ever need your _worthless_ appreciation." Eggman said, pointing at her. This angered Amy as she tightened her grip on her Piko Piko Hammer. Eggman quickly switched the subject. "Anyways, enough about _my_ hard work. Now is the part where I crush you furry pests into And once I'm finished with you heroes, I'll..." Eggman suddenly stopped, clueless of what he would do after.

"Gee Eggman, couldn't think up of the rest of your _epic_ speech I presume?" Sonic taunted him as he crossed his arms. He shook his head in disappointment. "And I thought you were an astounding genius with an IQ of 200."

Eggman shouted in anger. "Gaaah! It's 300 you half-witted hedgehog!" He began to bang his hands on the cockpit's control panels, accidently activating one of the functions. The mouth of the Giant Bowser Mecha suddenly opened and a huge blast of fire was shot towards the heroes. The heroes quickly jumped out of the way, surprised from the attack.

"Hohoh! Did you see that power? It's all thanks to the energy of...umm..." Eggman scratched his head in confusion. He actually wasn't sure what was powering up the Giant Bowser Mecha. When he was waiting for Bowser to bring him the machine's power source earlier, a purple light of energy suddenly covered the machine, instantly powering it up. "Well, whatever is powering up this machine, it certainly made that flamethrower vicious! Want to see it again?"

Eggman activated the flamethrower function once more, this time aiming the blast of fire towards Tails and Yoshi. The fox quickly grabbed the dinosaur's hand and flew them towards the roof of the room, avoiding the attack.

"Alright Yoshi! It's time for you to attack!" Tails shouted to him. He quickly spun him around and flung Yoshi towards the cockpit of the Giant Bowser Mecha where Eggman was in. Yoshi prepared to land a Ground-Pound on the doctor.

"Oh no you don't!" Eggman said as he quickly closed the cockpit area. The forehead of the Giant Bower Mecha closed onto the cockpit. Yoshi yelped as he careened towards the machine's forehead. He slammed onto the hard, metal surface of the machine. He slowly slid off and began to fall to the floor. Knuckles quickly jumped and caught the dinosaur. Yoshi thanked the echidna.

Amy ran up to one of the feet of the Giant Bowser Mecha, holding her Piko Piko Hammer in both hands. "You better tell us where you hid Princess Peach before I smash your robot into pieces Eggman!" She took a mighty swing with her hammer and slammed it against one of the machines toes. It had no effect. She continued to swing her hammer onto the machine. No matter how much swings she took, nothing was happening.

"Hohoh! Take as many swings as you want, pink hedgehog!" Eggman spoke inside the cockpit. "This machine is made with the strongest durable metal in the Mushroom Kingdom. It's virtually indestructible! All thanks to Bowser for giving me the material." Amy ignored the doctor's comments and contiuned to attack with her hammer. Eggman, now annoyed by this, pushed the "cannon" function on his control panel.

A pair of steel cannons suddenly popped out of the two upper corners of the machine's shells. Bullet Bills were shot out from each cannon. Both homed themselves onto Amy. Right before they hit her, Sonic ran up to her and snatched her out of the Bullet Bills way. The Bullet Bills exploded on the floor.

Sonic dropped Amy near the doorway of the room. "Amy! You need to pay attention!" She apologized to Sonic. The blue hedgehog turned back to the Giant Bowser Mecha. If Eggman was right about the machine being made with indestructible steel, then how were the heroes going to destroy it? He began to think of a strategy.

"SOONIC!" Tails suddenly shouted to him. The hedgehog looked up and saw that Tails was captured in one of the Giant Bowser Mecha's hands. The hand held itself in front of the machines mouth. Eggman was about to scorch Tails with a flamethrower.

"Tail! Hold on!" Sonic shouted to him. He quickly backed up and ran towards the Giant Bowser Mecha. He ran up the surface of the machine and up to the hand that grasped Tails. Sonic did all he could to pull Tails out of the tight grasp, but it was no use. "Gah! Knuckles! I could use a little help here!"

Knuckles nodded and climbed up the surface of the machine. He climbed onto the machines hand and helped Sonic pull Tails out of the grasp. Withh their combined efforts, they freed Tails. The trio jumped off the machine's hand just as the flamethrower blew itself onto it. Surprisingly, the metal of the machine began to burn. The yellow coating of the machine's hand turned to a black, burnt appearance. It was as if the fire was burning the metal.

Yoshi was the first to notice this. He quickly pointed it out to the others. "Hey guys! Look what's happening to the hand!" The others looked up and saw what he was talking about.

"What the-what happened?" Knuckles asked the others. At first, no one knew what happened, until Tails figured it out.

"I think I know the weakness to the machine!" Tails exclaimed. He explained to the others that since the fire from the flamethrower seemed to be the only thing that could damage the Giant Bowser Mecha, he assumed the metal's only weakness was extremely hot temperatures. He came up with an idea. "If we can figure out a way to dump a whole pool of magma onto the machine, it'll be weak enough for our attacks to go through!"

"Well, where are we going to get a big pool of lava?" Amy asked him.

Sonic thought for a moment. He quickly remembered that Bowser's Castle was inside a volcano, which was practically filled with hot magma. He came up with an idea. "Why try dumping magma onto the machine, when we can dump the machine _into_ magma?" He told them his plan. Sonic's plan was to lure the Giant Bowser Mecha outside of Bowser's Castle. They would push the machine into the volcano, destroying the machine for good and beating Dr. Eggman once and for all.

"That's a brilliant plan, Sonic!" Yoshi complimented him. He quickly turned back to the Giant Bowser Mecha and waved at it. "Hey, Eggman! I bet you can't catch us!"

Eggman saw Yoshi's taunt and grinned evilly. "That dinosaur is just making things easier for me!" He quickly pushed the "smash" function on his control panel. Suddenly, the Giant Bowser Mecha held back one of it's huge, metal hands and threw a punch towards the heroes. The heroes quickly got out of the way. The machine's hand smashed itself onto the room's door, smashing it into pieces. It broke down parts of the wall around it.

"Come on everyone!" Sonic said, pointing to the crushed wall. He ran out of the room and back out into the castle's hallway. The rest of the heroes followed him. They were going to initiate their plan to destroy the Giant Bowser Mecha.

"Hah! Running like cowards I see." Eggman laughed in amusement. "I think they've finally realized the true power of my machine!" He quickly controlled the Giant Bowser Mecha into destroying the rest of the wall. The Giant Bowser Mecha climbed out of the room and stomped it's way through the castle's hallway. Because of the huge size of the machine, Eggman had to make it "crawl" through the hallways.

Eggman was not going to let Sonic get away from him!

* * *

**_Bowser's Castle, Bowser's Throne Room_**

The Mario Bros. stood their ground against the koopa king. Puffs of gray smoke were emitting from Bowser's nostrils as he stared intimidatingly at the two brothers. This was going to be his moment. He was going to squish the Mario Bros. for the last time. "Prepare for the beating of your life, Mario! You won't be leaving this castle alive."

Mario stared back at the koopa king. He had a look of determination on his face. He wasn't going to allow Bowser to harm anyone else. The plumber was still fitted in his propeller suit and helmet. Beside him, was Luigi who held his steel hammer in both his hands. He whispered to his brother.

"Don't worry bro, I've got your back!" Luigi assured him, giving him a smile and a thumbs-up in the process. Propeller Mario nodded back to him.

Princess Peach stood near the throne, watching as the Mario Bros. and Bowser continued to stare at each other. She called out to the brothers. "I believe in you Mario and Luigi! You are the heart of the Mushroom Kingdom and the striving force that keeps this land safe. Nothing can stop you!"

Those very words angered Bowser, causing his scowl to grow larger. "Bah! I doubt the Mario Bros. are unstoppable. As long as I'm here, I will stop at nothing to get rid of the Mario Bros. once and for all!" Bowser quickly prepared a scorching flamethrower in his mouth. He shot the flame towards the Mario Bros. The two dodged the attack with ease.

"It's-a hammering time!" Luigi exclaimed as he held his steel hammer in the air and ran towards Bowser. He swiftly jumped in the air and aimed his hammer at Bowser's head. He swung his hammer with a mighty force, but unfortunately, Bowser dodged it and punched Luigi in the air with his gigantic fists. Luigi flew across the room, eventually landing on the floor and sliding across it. He slowly got up, feeling dizzy from the attack. He swayed a little, trying to keep his balance from his dizziness. "Ugh...don't worry, I'm okay!"

"Aww, is Luigi alright?" Bowser mocked him. "Why don't I heat that head of yours for a change?" Bowser quickly shot out three blue homing fireballs at Luigi. The plumber panicked and ran out of the fireballs ways. He dodged the first two with ease, but the last one was lucky enough to scorch the back of Luigi's bottom. He yelled out in pain.

"YYEEEEEEOOOOWWWWW!"

Propeller Mario saw this and ran to Luigi's aid. Luigi was running around in circles, trying to extinguish the flame with his gloves. Propeller Mario chased after him and used the propeller on top of his helmet to blow out the fire. Luigi gratefully thanked his brother.

Bowser had been laughing mockingly at the action. "Bwahaha! Look how stupid you looked! What kind of unstoppable hero are you supposed to be if you can't take the heat?" Luigi simply stared back at him angrily, silently growling at him. Bowser grinned evilly at them as he prepared his next attack.

The koopa king quickly jumped high into the air and landed back onto the floor with a loud thud, sending a shockwave across the floor. Propeller Mario grabbed Luigi and propelled them into the air to avoid the attack. The gently floated back down towarda the floor.

Taking the opportunity, Bowser took a deep breath and shot a large flamethrower towards the floating Mario Bros. Peach quickly alerted the Mario Bros. "Mario! Luigi! Watch out!"

The brothers looked down and saw the flaming attack below them. Luigi looked up to his brother with a panicked look. "What do we do bro?"

Propeller Mario told Luigi to hold on tightly. Quickly, he spun around in the air as fast as he could, creating a small gus of wind around them. The wind caused the flamethrower attack to blow around them. This conituned on until Bowser got tired and stopped breathing fire. He took a moment to catch his breath while the Mario Bros. landed safely onto the floor.

"Grrr, so what? You can twirl around in the air! How pretty of you!" Bowser growled at them. The koopa king knew he had to step up his game. He came up with an idea. Instantly, Bowser hopped into the air and hid inside his shell.

Propeller Mario and Luigi looked at each other for a moment and began laughing. "Ahahaha! What kind of attack is that? The_ retreating_ attack?" Luigi joked. He dropped his hammer onto the floor from too much laughing. Even he thought this was a new low for Bowser.

Suddenly, Bowser's shell began to spin viciously in place. Fire began to shoot out of the arm, leg and head holes of Bowser's shell. The spinning shell was now a deadly flaming shell spinning attack!

Propeller Mario saw what was happening and stopped laughing. He nudged Luigi, as he was still laughing. Propeller Mario pointed at the spinning flaming shell to Luigi. Luigi suddenly went wide-eyed. "Oohh...this doesn't look good..."

Bowser's flaming spinning shell suddenly shot itself towards the Mario Bros. It spun so fast that the Mario Bros. didn't have time to react and got hit by the speeding shell. The impact felt like a speeding train hit the Mario Bros. The brothers flew up into the air by the force and fell back down, landing hard on the floor. Mario lost his Propeller power-up in the process. The Mario Bros. groaned in pain as they tried to get up.

Bowser's shell slowly stopped spinning. The flames quickly died down. Bowser climbed out from his shell and smirked when he saw the Mario Bros. on the floor. He walked up to them, shaking his head in thr process. "Well look at this! The Mario Bros. are lying on the ground at the feet of the almighty koopa king! You see, even I have my moments!" Bowser grabbed Mario by the foot and lifted him off the ground. He looked towards Peach. "Who's unstoppable now, princess?"

Peach had a helpless look on her face. She couldn't do anything to stop Bowser from finishing off the Mario Bros. She whispered to herself. "Oh no..."

Bowser looked at the helpless Mario dangling in his hand. The plumber had his eyes closed. He felt too weak to fight back. Luigi looked up, seeing his brother in trouble. He tried to lift his hammer and attack Bowser, but he was too weak as well. Bowser laughed in amusement. "Not so Super now, am I right Mario?" He prepared a fireball attack in his mouth, intending to finish Mario once and for all.

Suddenly, the door to the throne room swung open, surprising Bowser. He turned to the open door and saw Sonic and the others running into the room with panicked looks on their faces.

"Did we lose him?" Yoshi asked them, panting from exhaustion. They had been around the castle for the whole night that it was becoming tiring for them.

Tails looked behind them, not seeing Eggman's doomsday machine in sight through the hallways. "I don't see any death machine chasing after us. I guess we're fine for now."

"So Sonic, how exactly are we going to trick Eggman into falling into the volcano's lava pool?" Knuckles asked him. He expected an answer from the hedgehog, but at the moment, Sonic eyes were focused on Bowser holding Mario hostage in his hand.

"Hey! You better let him go!" Sonic demanded Bowser, pointing at him. The others quickly noticed Mario in Bowser's hand and got into their battle posistions.

Bowser simply glared at them. He already had his fireball attack charged at it's maximum power. He was about to scorch Mario to death when he suddenly felt something drop onto his foot. He looked down and picked up the object. It was an empty Item Bag. Bowser was confused by this, wondering where it came from. Suddenly, he realized there was something in Mario's hand. It appeared to be a a white and orange feather. Bowser quickly recognized the power-up.

_No way...it can't be!_

Suddenly, a yellow cape appeared around Mario's neck. When this happened, Mario felt a spontaneous amount of energy fill up his weakened body. He opened his eyes and look back towards Bowser, grinning at him. Mario quickly spun out of Bowser's hand. Bowser reacted by shooting his fireball at Mario, but Mario quickly spun his cape to blow it out.

"GAAAH! NOOOOOO! I WAS SO CLOSE!" Bowser screamed im frustration. He stomped on the floor angrily, furious that his victory against thr Mario Bros. was unfairly taken away from him.

Mario landed on the floor and crossed his arms, watching Bowser stomping on the floor. He shook his head from Bowser's tantrum. He ran towards the koopa king and jumped into the air and began spinning rapidly with his cape flowing around him. Mario shot himself towards Bowser and threw a powerful kick on Bowser's snout, knocking back the koopa king onto the floor. Mario landed safely back on the floor and watched as Bowser tried to get back up from his shell.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Tails complimented Mario. The others were impressed by how Mario quickly changed the tide of battle against Bowser.

"Yeah! That's how you take care of a supervillian!" Sonic said, giving a thumbs-up to Mario. The plumber returned the thumbs-up.

Luigi slowly got up, still feeling a little weak from Bowser's spinning fire shell attack. He picked up his steel hammer and looked over to the fallen Bowser. "That's my brother for ya! Always full of surprises." He winked to his brother.

Princess Peach walked up to the heroes. She gratefully thanked them for saving her. "You were all very brave to come and rescue me. I will make sure I repay you for you noble actions."

"No need for that, princess." Amy assured her. "It's what friends do, right guys?" The others agreed with her. They were just relieved Peach was okay.

Bowser continued to try and get up from his shell. "Grrr! I'm not finished yet! Just wait until I get back up and clobber you heroes!" Bowser shouted at them. He did all he could to roll onto his stomach, but he just didn't have enough strength to do so. He thought to himself. Where is the doctor at this point? He should've had the doomsday machine ready at this point!

Suddenly, the throne room began to rumble. The heroes panicked, wondering what was causing the rumbling. Sonic and the others realized what the shaking could be. The floor under the throne chair suddenly began cracking. The floor broke apart, revealing a large, robot Bowser climbing out of the pile of rubble. It towered over the heroes.

"Oh great...just what we needed..." Sonic said under his breath.

"Hohoho! I've finally found you!" Eggman spoke from the doomsday machine's speakers. He looked down to the heroes, then down to Bowser, noticing him wobbling on his shell. "Uhm...do I dare ask?"

"No..." Bowser simply answered back. Eggman pushed Bowser back onto his feet using the doomsday's mechanical hands. The koopa king reluctantly thanked him. He then began shouting at him. "What took you so long? You're late!"

Eggman apologized to him. "Well sorry, mister grumpy! But I was waiting for you to bring me the power source to the doomsday machine! You're just lucky this magical energy popped out of no where and powered up the machine! And besides, I was chasing after Sonic and his troubling friends!"

Bowser nodded to the doctor, understanding his situation. He then reminded Eggman of something. "Wait, if you were chasing Sonic and his friends, why didn't you just simply activate the _capturing_ mechanism? We installed that for a reason!"

Eggman felt like a fool forgetting about the capturing mechanism. He slapped himself on the face. "I guess I forgot about it!" He looked back to the heroes, who were starting to sneak away from the babbling villians. "Stop right there! We're not finished with you yet!"

Eggman quickly pushed the "capturing" function on his control panel. One of the claws on the robot Bowser's hands shot towards the heroes. It landed in front of the heroes. Mario and Sonic reacted to it and both kicked it away. Unfortunately, it wasn't kicked far enough and a green forcefield suddenly appeared and covered them.

"Hey! What gives!" Sonic shouted. He touched the forcefield, but it shocked him. The hedgehog fell to the floor, pained from the electrocution. "...that probably wasn't a good idea." Mario helped him up. He looked around, trying to find a way to escape the forcefield, but there was none.

"Oh no! They're trapped!" Peach said as she held her hands to her mouth. The heroes began to panick. How would Mario and Sonic get out of this one?

"Bwahaha! See Eggman? I told you installing a capturing mechanism was a good idea!" Bowser called out to Eggman.

"I guess you were right," Eggman answered to him." He then pushed another function on his control panel. This button was labeled "missile". Suddenly, a large ammo of missiles appeared from the spikes on the back of the robot-Bowser's shell. He intended to shoot the missiles at Sonic and Mario. defeating them once and for all! "Say your prayers, Sonic and Mario!"

"Noo! We have to get them out of there!" Tails shouted to the others. He was about to run up to them when suddenly another forcefield was shot towards the rest of the heroes, trapping them. Tails looked up to Eggman in the doomsday machine. "Hey! Let us go!"

"Sorry, foxboy! I can't let you go just yet," Eggman shouted to him. "atleast, not until I blow up your favorite hedgehog and plumber!"

"Noo! Mario!" Luigi shouted. He tried to bash the the forcefield he was trapped in, but only got the same result Sonic had. He was electrocuted and knocked back into Knuckles.

"There has to be a way out of here!" Amy said to the others. She looked around desperately for escape. "We have to save Sonic. We just have to!" A tone of desperation filled her voice.

"Amy...please...calm down." A voice tried to calm her. The others looked and saw it was Sonic's voice. He had a calm look on his face. He reminded them something. "Our mission was to rescue the princess and we did." He looked down for a moment and hesitated. He turned to Mario, who nodded him to tell them. "Now...it's time for you guys to get out of here."

"Huh...what?" Yoshi asked him. He was confused. Why was he telling them to escape when they were stuck inside a forcefield?

"Luigi..." Mario called him. Luigi looked up to his brother. He knew what he was talking about, but he simply couldn't pull the strength to do it.

"No Mario...I won't do it...I WON'T USE THE WARP WHISTLE!" Luigi shouted at him, fighting back tears.

"Luigi...please," Mario tried to convince him. "If you don't do it, then Eggman and Bowser will surely kill you next..." At this point, Luigi had a teardrop running down his cheek. The others realized what Mario was trying to tell his brother.

"Wait...no...we can't just leave you..." Tails spoke. He suddenly had a choking feeling in his throat. He started to sniffle.

"You have to buddy," Sonic tried to convince them. "It wouldn't be fair if you were killed because of us stopping you..." He gently gave a warm smile to Tails, trying to cheer him up, but it simply made Tails more sad about leaving his best friend, his brother.

Amy suddenly cried out to him. "NO, SONIC! PLEASE! WE CAN'T LEAVE YOU! THERE HAS TO BE A WAY! THERE JUST HAS TO!" She covered her hands and started to sob. She couldn't just leave Sonic like this. It was unfair to her.

The rest of the heroes were too shocked to speak. Knuckles and Yoshi simply looked away, surely heartbroken. Peach kneeled on the floor snd looked to Mario. The plumber looked back to her and gave her a warm smile. Peach suddenly looked away as a teardrop rolled down her cheek.

"Awww, how sad!" Bowser said mockingly. He looked up to the doomsday machines cockpit where Eggman was sitting. The doctor was becoming impatient. He wanted to blow up Sonic and Mario so badly. Bowser shouted up to him. "Let's just get this over with, Eggman. Shoot the missiles!"

"My pleasure!" Eggman exclaimed. He slowly lifted his hand towards the "fire" button.

Mario knew they were running out of time. He shouted to his brother. "LUIGI! PLEASE! DO THIS FOR ME!"

Luigi hesitated for a moment. He reluctantly dug into his pocket, still have tears flowing down his face. He took out the Warp Whistle and slowly lifted it near his mouth. He gently blew into the whistle, the tune played out in the throne room. A small tornado came out of the opposite of the Warp Whistle. It surrounded the heroes trapped in the forcefield. When the tornado disappeared, the heroes were gone.

"...we did what we had to do..." Sonic said in an expressionless tone. He turned to Mario, who also turned to him. They looked at each other for a moment and nodded to each other. They turned back to Bowser and Eggman, who were pleased to finally continue with the destroying of Mario and Sonic.

"Finally! I finally get to destroy Mario!" Bowser said in an evil tone. Bowser roared victoriously as he pointed at them, signalling Eggman to shoot the missiles at them.

"Sayonara, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Eggman said as he pushed the "fire" button on his control panel. He began to laugh maniacally as the missiles on the back of the robot-Bowser's shell suddenly shot out and directed themselves towards the trapped Mario and Sonic.

Mario and Sonic could only watch as the missiles were shot towards them. They closed their eyes, preparing to take in the blast.

.

..

...

BOOM!

The missiles gave off an enormous explosion. A large puff of smoke and fire emitted from where the missiles hit. A loud "booming" noise was heard from the explosion. Bowser and Eggman simply stared as the puff of smoke started to fade away, wondering how much damage they had dealt.

As the smoke cleared, Mario and Sonic simply stood there, unharmed from the missile attack. The forcefield around them was still there. Surprisingly, the missiles shot had apparently missed the two heroes! The heroes were surprised as much as Bowser and Eggman were. Wondering what the missiles had actually hit, everyone looked in front to where Mario and Sonic's forcefield was.

There, floating in front of them, was the shadow figure. Sparks circled around him as he was greatly damaged by the missile attack. In his hand he held his shadow paintbrush.

_Could that be...No..._ Sonic thought to himself. He gave a surprised expression. Mario looked up and noticed what the figure was. He gasped in shock. Did the shadow figure suddenly appear and protect them? They were dumbfounded even by the simple fact!

"What the-what is that thing?" Bowser growled, frustrated the missiles did not explode on Mario and Sonic. He took a closer look and suddenly realized what the figure was. "No way...could it be? The shadow figure I've been hearing about by my son?"

Eggman squinted at the shadow figure, marvelled by the uniqueness of the mysterious creature. "I've never seen something like that before...where could something like this come from?" He quickly remembered that the shadow figure had intecepted his missiles, preventing Mario and Sonic from being killed. "Grr...no matter! It interfered in our execution!" Eggman quickly refilled on missiles and was about to shoot them at the shadow figure. "Begone!"

Bowser quickly stopped Eggman. "Hold on, doctor! Don't press that button! Think about this!" Bowser turned back to the shadow figure. Sparks still surrounded him. "The very creature standing in front of us was the only thing that could stand a chance against Mario and Sonic. If we were able to possess the power it had, we would be invincible! I mean, look! He even survived your missile attack!"

Eggman thought about what Bowser had said. "You may be right." He quickly grinned, coming up with an idea. Eggman quickly pressed the "capturing" function on his control panel, aiming another forcefield claw towards the shadow figure and shooting it. The shadow figure quickly reacted and cast a shadow bolt towards the oncoming forcefield claw. The two projectiles collided, creating an explosion of green forcefield energy and shadow magic.

"Impressive!" Bowser exclaimed, crossing his arms and grinning. "This shadow monster thing could come in handy in our future plans. We just have to capture it!" Bowser commanded Eggman to instead shoot another batch of missiles at the shadow figure, saying they should weaken it before capturing it. Eggman did what he was told and prepared another round of missiles.

_"Insolent fools..." _the shadow figure whispered to himself. It turned back to Mario and Sonic, still trapped in Eggman's forcefield. The shadow figure pointed it's shadow paintbrush at it and shot a white shadow spell at it, disarming the forcefield. He looked to Mario and pointed to the throne's door. "_Flee, Star Child!" _He turned to Sonic, giving him a glare. _"You better leave before I change my mind!"_

Mario and Sonic were greatly surprised that the shadow figure wanted them to escape instead of destroying them right there, They quickly took the opportunity and headed for the exit of Bowser's throne room.

Eggman saw this. "Oh no you don't! I'm not letting get another lucky shot this time!" The doctor was about to fire the missiles at them when the shadow figure suddenly cast a shadow lightning bolt at the robot-Bowser. The shadow bolt hit the forehead of the robot, causing it to malfunction. Eggman began to press the buttons on the control panel, but nothing seemed to work. "Oh no! What's going on? This can't be happening!"

The doctor repeatedly banged on the control panel with his fists, suddenly electricity started to spark out of the control panel. Miraculously, he somehow fixed the missile function of his doomsday machine. Unfortunately, it wasn't the way he had hoped for it to happen.

The missiles on the back of the robot-Bowser's shells started to shoot out one by one in all different directions. Some missiles crashed into the throne room walls, exploding and breaking down the room. Others flew out of the throne room and into the other areas of Bowser's Castles, blowing up and damaging the damage of the missiles caused the whole castle to start crumbling apart. The whole entire castle began to shake as it began to break away.

A missile shot into one of the doors of the throne room, causing it to fall down and block the exit. Mario and Sonic were almost squashed by the door, but they were trapped in the throne room.

"No!" Sonic shouted as he banged on the fallen door. "We're trapped again!" He turned back and watched as the missiles flew around the throne room. One shot towards him and Mario. "Whoa! Watch out!" He quickly grabbed Mario and jumped them out of the way. The missiles crashed into the floor, causing a huge crack across the throne room.

"Gah! Eggman! Control your missiles! You're destroying my castle!" Bowser shouted at him. The koopa king ducked down and protected his head, watching as the missiles flew around, exploding his throne room and castle.

"I can't! They've already been fired!" Eggman complained. He knew things were already messed up. Giving up, he was about to press the "eject" function on his control panel when suddenly a missile hit the doomsday machine, knocking it backwards. Eggman fell on his back inside the cockpit. The doomsday machine teetered back towards the wall of the throne room. Unfortunately, the wall the doomsday machine crashed into was part of the outer walls of the castle.

The doomsday machine broke through the whole entire wall of that part of the throne room,revealing the outside of the castle. The doomsday machine fell out of the castle andbegan to fall down into the pit of boiling magma of the volcano. Eggman screamed as the machine landed into the magma and began to slowly sink.

"Grr! No! All our hard work!" Bowser shouted in despair. He growled angrily and turned towards the shadow figure, who still floated inside the throne room. He pointed at the figure. "This is all your fault! I'm gonna get you for this!"

The shadow figure laughed at him. "_"You are pathetic!" _just as the shadow figure was about to teleport away, part of the castle's roof broke away and landed on him, knocking the shadow figure onto the floor. The shadow figure landed on the floor, dropping his shadow paintbrush in the process.

Mario took the opportunity to grab the shadow paintbrush. He jumped towards it and grabbed it from the floor, doing a flip in the process. Sonic gave him a thumbs-up. "Good going, Mario!"

Both the body of the shadow figure and the shadow paintbrush began to revert back to their normal forms. Metal Sonic continued to lie on the castle floor, apparently unconscious. The Jeweled Scepter appeared in Mario's hand.

Bowser looked around him, noticing his castle was slowly collapsing from the damage of the missile barrage. He growled furiously. "GAH! THINGS COULDN'T POSSIBLY GET ANY WORSE!" He turned to Mario and began to growl at him. "If my castle is going down, I'm taking that plumber with it!"

Suddenly, Bowser jumped high into the air and landed in front of the plumber. Mario gasped as Bowser was about to shoot a quick fireball at him. Suddenly, a loud cracking noise was heard under them. The two looked under them, seeing that the throne room's floor had countless number of cracks in it. This was not good news for them.

"Aw geez...so much for ending this epic battle in a good way." Sonic said to himself as he looked down on the floor.

Instantly, the floor under them broke apart. Pieces of it fell down into the boiling magma below. Mario, Sonic, Bowser and the body of Metal Sonic tumbled down with it. They all screamed as they were about to land into the magma.

The rest of Bowser's Castle began to crumble down into ruins. After a few minutes, the whole castle had fallen into rubbish. All of the minions had escaped from the catastrophe the moment they found out the castle was falling to pieces.

Bowser's Castle was nothing more than rubble and ruin leftover on the lone island inside the koopa king's volcano.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**The heroes have rescued Princess Peach! But was it at the expense of the lives of Mario and Sonic? What could be their fate, along with Bowser, Eggman and the fallen Metal Sonic? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Boy, I'm exhausted! This chapter took so much effort to finish! And it's so long too! Much longer than the previous chapter! This is like, 7,000 words? This is the epic battle between the heroes and villians. **

**A lot of action happened in this chapter. Fire attacks, gigantic robots, explosive missiles, crumbling castles, energy forcefields and so much more occured that I can't even describe the action!**

**Not only was there exciting action parts, but also heartbreaking moments between the heroes. You could see how the others were reluctant in leaving Mario and Sonic in the hands of Bowser and Eggman, moments away from possible death. They wanted to be by there sides the whole way, but of course, being the true heroes they were, Mario and Sonic made them escape so they wouldn't let their friends suffer seeing their upcoming death.**

**You have to love the false "..." I added before the "BOOM" of the missiles. It's a way to trick readers into thinking another cliffhanger would happen. But no, that didn't happen and instead you got to see the Metal Sonic surprisingly rescue Mario and Sonic. **

**Metal Sonic appearing shows that even though he may be a robot killer, he won't allow Mario being killed since he needs him. And when he let Sonic escape, this meant he would deal with the hedgehog later as he would take care of Eggman's robot.**

**The feather that appears is no doubt the Cape Feather that appeared in Super Mario World. It even shows the yellow cape appearing on Mario's back. I really liked the power-up, how you could spin around as long as you wanted to and even fly in the game. So much memories.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter. Make sure you come back next week to read the next chapter! Remember, Saturday evenings between are updates! Check my profile for updates on my stories! And if you have any questions, don't be shy to ask me! Bye for now! :D**

**********__****__****__************-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**


	44. Scrap Metal!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 44: Scrap Metal!_**

* * *

**_Toad Town, Princess Peach's Castle_**

It was early morning in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sunrise gave off a soothing orange glow in the dark blue sky of dawn. The sight would relax your mood, making you feel warm and happy. But unfortunately for the heroes, nothing would cheer them up.

The atmosphere around the castle was mournful. The rest of the heroes had just arrived back from their battle against Bowser and Eggman. They sat on the castle's foyer stairs, still terribly grieved by Mario and Sonic's sacrifice. They couldn't believe the seemingly unstoppable plumber and hedgehog were now dead to them.

"I can't believe they're gone..." Yoshi said in a depressed voice. He sighed deeply, his head facing down. The dinosaur sat beside Luigi at the bottom of the stairs. The plumber was saddened that his brother was gone. He was his only family and now that he was dead, Luigi felt a sudden pain of loneliness.

"They...did what they had to do..." Tails explained to the others. The fox sat behind Luigi and Yoshi, only a few stairs higher than them. He lowered his head, also saddened that Sonic was gone. The two friends were as close as brothers. Losing one another would be like losing a family member to them. It was a terrible thing to go through.

Knuckles sat beside the fox, tightening his fist in frustration. His grief quickly turned in anger. He couldn't believe that Eggman and Bowser finally succeeded in defeating their arch-nemesis. The echidna was more frustrated he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"I wish we could have done something!" Knuckles began to argue. His fist tightened harder. "Anything to save them! Boy, when I get my hands on Eggman...I'm gonna...I'm..." the echidna suddenly screamed and punched down into the stairs behind him, creating a crack. He knew that no matter what he did to Eggman, it would do nothing to bring back Sonic and Mario.

Just then, Princess Peach entered the foyer, returning from trying to comfort Amy. The pink hedgehog had taken Sonic and Mario's death the hardest. Ever since they got back to the castle, she immediately ran up to her guest room and locked herself in, sobbing over Sonic's death. Peach had tried everything she could to cheer up the hedgehog, but nothing worked.

"How is she?" Tails asked Peach. The princess shook her head sadly. She had felt really bad for Amy, losing a loved one so special in her life. The princess could also relate to her, as she lost Mario, who was very special to her.

"They made a noble sacrifice, Mario and Sonic." Peach started to speak. The others listened to her. "They have always endangered the well-being of themselves for the safety of others. And now, their lives have been taken away to save the ones they loved and cared about. No other amount of heroism can par to that. We should honour and respect what they've done to keep the world safe."

The others agreed to Peach's speech. As much as they missed Mario and Sonic, they knew they could'nt bring them back. The only right thing to do was to honour them as true heroes.

"I say we should hold a memorial." Luigi spoke up. He slowly turned to the others. "We can have a ceremony to remember what they've done to keep the world safe. It would be a respectable sendoff for Mario and Sonic."

Tails nodded to Luigi. "You're right. They deserve a tribute of their past achievements." Tails began to remember all his past adventures with Sonic. He remembered the memories and fun times they shared with one another.

"I'm in." Yoshi said as he stood up. "Mario has done so much for me and we've shared countless adventures together. It's the least I could do to honor his memory."

"What do you think, Knuckles?" Tails asked as he turned towards the echidna. At first, Knuckles said nothing. Then he slowly nodded back, agreeing to the memorial idea. Knuckles was still frustrated he couldn't do anything to save Sonic and Mario, so the best thing he could do was to tribute them. He remembered the first time he met Sonic. It wasn't a friendly start, but after a few understandings, they turned out to be really good friends who shared many adventures in the past years.

Peach was glad the heroes were willing to instead take their negative emotions and turn them to positive emotions by commemorating Mario and Sonic through a memorial ceremony instead of grieving over them. She then remembered about Amy. "I'll explain to Amy about our memorial idea. Hopefully she'll be strong enough to go through with it."

Before Peach could head back to the guest room area, someone began to knock on the castle's front doors. She was surprised by this, as she wasn't expecting any guests. She headed for the doors and slowly opened them. The sight surprised her, as she couldn't believe what she was seeing right now.

"Oh my! It can't be!"

* * *

**_Unknown Forest in the Mushroom Kingdom_**

Somewhere there was a large forest in the Mushroom Kingdom, where there were many tall, healthy tress and lush grass. There was a distant mountain range. A river flowed from the mountains, through the forest and into a huge lake located inside the forest. The calm flowing of the river could relax anyone's ears.

Near the rocky shore of the lake, was a certain blue hedgehog laying down unconscious on the grass. The hedgehog slowly opened his eyes, feeling exhausted. He simply tilted his head, looking around the area around him. He slowly sat up, amazed that he found himself in the forest.

"I can't believe it..." Sonic said to himself, slowly smiling to himself. "It really worked! We actually did it!" Sonic quickly stood up and stretched out his arms, feeling the calm breeze flow through his quills. "We really did it Mario! Amazing, right?" He expected Mario to answer back to him, but there was only silence.

The blue hedgehog turned around, seeing the bodies of Mario and Metal Sonic laying on the grass. Behind them, was the shell of Bowser. The body of the koopa king was most likely hidden inside. Sonic was surprised by this, as he assumed the power of the Jeweled Scepter only teleported him and the plumber.

"I guess that thing is more powerful than I give credit for." Sonic said to himself as he shrugged. He quickly ran up to Mario's body. He was lying on his stomach, with the Jeweled Scepter held tightly in his hand. Sonic turned his body over and gently shook him. "Hey Mario, wake up. We made it!"

Mario slowly woke up, groaning in pain. He opened his eyes, seeing the hedgehog staring right back at him with a grin. Mario looked around him, realizing where they were. "Sonic? Are we really alive?" Sonic nodded to him. Mario smiled and suddenly jumped from the ground, doing a victory pose in the air. "Yahoo! We made it!" He landed on the ground and looked at the Jeweled Scepter in his hand. "I didn't believe you at first Sonic, but luckily I did it."

"Yeah, otherwise would've melted in the lava." Sonic joked with him. "But seriously, we're lucky we found a way to use the Jeweled Scepter to teleport us away from the magma pit." He remembered back in Dark Land, how he screamed at Mario to try and initiate a teleport spell from the Jeweled Scepter. Mario had waved the wand, causing a bright light to emit from the top of the scepter just as they were about to land in the volcanos lava.

Mario nodded to him, agreeing with the hedgehog. They were grateful they were alive. The plumber looked around him and saw the body of Metal Sonic and the shell of Bowser laying behind him. He was surprised. "Huh? The teleportation spell alsobrought these two as well?"

"Well, they were close to us when the teleportation spell happened." Sonic tried to explain. He noticed that Eggman's body wasn't there with them. _Could he have actually... _Sonic immediately shook the thought out of his head and went on to other things. "Anyway, we gotta find out where we are!" He looked around the forest they were in, wondering where in Mushroom Kingdom was the place located in.

While Sonic was looking, Mario walked up to the body of Metal Sonic. He kneeled down to it. The robot's head was looking away from the plumber. Curious, Mario turned the head, seeing if the robot was awake. Surprisingly, the eyes of Metal Sonic was not the normal red color, but green. He called Sonic. "Hey, Sonic! What does it mean when Metal Sonic's eyes are green?"

Sonic walked up to Mario and saw what he was talking about. He shrugged. "I don't know. I've never seen it like that before. It could be some sort of special mode. Tails can probably explain it." The hedgehog then remembered about his friends. He worried about them. The last time he and Mario had seen them, they were about to get blown up by Eggman's missiles. The others didn't know their true fate and were left with the impression Mario and Sonic were dead. "Gee, I hope the others aren't too worried about us."

"So Sonic, what's your plan?" Mario asked him. "How are we supposed to find our way home?"

Sonic thought for a moment and shrugged. "Hey, you're the one who's lived in this world much longer than me. You should know where everything is."

Mario agreed with him. He decided to look around the forest area for a bit, hoping he could recognize where they were in the Mushroom Kingdom. Meanwhile, Sonic walked up to the shell of Bowser. He scratched his head, wondering if the koopa king was unconscious. He tapped the shell lightly with his feet. There was no reaction.

"Sonic!" Mario called out to him. Sonic looked over to him as the plumber ran back to him. "You'll-a never guess what I found back inside the forest!" He quickly motioned Sonic to come follow him. The hedgehog followed closely behind Mario, wondering what he had found.

Mario took Sonic to this large bush seemingly by itself in a small, open plain inside the forest. Mario pushed away the bushes leaves, revealing what was inside it. Sonic couldn't believe what he saw. "The Master Emerald!"

"I'm-a guessing Metal Sonic hid the emerald here all along!" Mario exclaimed to Sonic. "We must be really lucky to find it!" Sonic nodded to the plumber. He wondered how they were so lucky to find the Master Emerald. Mario's theory was that when he was panicking to cast a teleportation spell, he accidently teleported them to the previous place Metal Sonic was, which just so happened to be where the Master Emerald was hidden. The two quickly carried the Master Emerald back to the lake area of the forest area.

"Well, that solves one problem." Sonic said as he patted on the Master Emerald proudly. "He scratched the side of his head. "But how are we still going to find our way home?"

"Hmm...wait! I think I know how we can get home!" Mario pointed to the Jeweled Scepter in his hand. He could use the Jeweled Scepter to teleport them back to the castle just like how he teleported them from Dark Land.

"Why didn't I think of that!" Sonic complained as he shook his head in shame. Before Mario cast the teleportation spell, Sonic paused him for a moment. He lifted Metal Sonic's body from the ground and carried it over his shoulder.

"Why are you bringing him with us?" Mario asked him. Sonic told him he didn't want the robot to cause any more trouble in Mario's world. He would be bringing the body back to their world. Mario thought it was a good idea. The heroes distanced themselves away from Bowser's shell so he wouldn't be teleported along with the heroes.

'Okie-dokie! Let's go home!" Mario said as he waved the Jeweled Scepter in the air. Suddenly, a bright, white light emitted from the top of the Jeweled Scepter. The light covered both Mario and Sonic as their bodies sparkle. A white flash emitted from their bodies, teleporting them away from the forest area and back to the castle in Toad Town.

Meanwhile, Bowser had just woken up from his unconsciousness. He slowly crawled out of his shell and stretched. He looked around him, surprised to find himself in the forest area. He stood up wondering how he got her. The koopa king scratched his head in confusion.

"Wasn't I just about to fall into the magma pit of my volcano?" Bowser asked himself. The only thing he remembered was a bright light shining into his face. He quickly shook it off. He was just relieved he was okay. But he had other matters to deal with. His castle was nothing but ruins, his doomsday machine was probably in the bottom of his volcano, his army gave up on him or probably died in the battle against the heroes, and now he was far away from his kingdom. Worse of all, Mario and Sonic were probably okay since the koopa king himself was and Eggman was probably dead! The koopa king had nothing.

"Grr...if it wasn't for that shadow figure, none of this wouldn't happen!" Bowser growled in frustration. He stomped on the ground, growing a sudden hate for the shadow figure. He began to wonder what he would do next. Suddenly, he thought about his son.

"Oh no! Junior!" Bowser said in shock. His son was probably still in the castle when it was crumbling to the ground. Who knew what happened to him. The koopa king quickly ran out of the forest area, intending to find his way back to his volcano, hoping that Junior would still be alright.

* * *

**_Toad Town, Outside Princess Peach's Castle_**

A white ball of light emitted in front of the doors of Princess Peach's castle. The white light flashed away, leaving Mario and Sonic in front of the castle. The two were grateful to be back home safely.

"Am I lucky to be back here." Sonic told the plumber as he looked around the front of the castle. He still carried the body of the seemingly deactivated Metal Sonic over his back.

"I just hope the others aren't worrying _too _much about us right now." Mario said as he held the Jeweled Scepter in both hands. He was still amazed by the power of the scepter itself. But he knew he couldn't keep it forever, as it was needed for Sonic and his friends to travel home. Beside him was the Master Emerald which "Come on, we should check inside."

The two heroes walked up to the castle's front doors and knocked on them. They waited until someone opened the doors. Out came Princess Peach. She gasped as she saw the presumed dead heroes in front of her. "Oh my! It can't be!" The princess was overjoyed to see the heroes. She quickly went up to both of them and hugged them. "I can't believe it! Your alive!" Her voice sounded like she was about to cry in joy.

The other heroes, who were sitting in the castle's foyer stairs, heard the princess shouting and quickly came up to her. When they saw Mario and Sonic standing in front of them, they were dumbstruck at first, but were thrilled they were still alive.

"Mario! Sonic! Your still alive!" Yoshi exclaimed. The dinosaur quickly ran up to them and jumped on top of them, causing them to fall onto the ground. Yoshi began to lick their faces in delight. Mario and Sonic laughed, glad to see the dinosaur still happy. Yoshi got off them and helped them back up.

"What the-Sonic? You're still alive?" Knuckles asked. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Making sure, he rubbed them, then started to poke Sonic, realizing he was real. "Oh man! This is awesome!" The echidna quickly lifted Sonic off the ground, hugging him.

"Whoa! I'm glad to see you too, knucklehead!" Sonic said, playfully joking around with Knuckles. At that moment, the echidna didn't care what Sonic called him. He was just glad he didn't have to feel guilty about not saving Sonic's life. "By the way, I found a little something that you've been looking for."

The hedgehog showed Knuckles the Master Emerald. "No...you actually found it!" Knuckles rushed up to the emerald, seeing it still in fine shape like it was back at Angel Island. Knuckles thumbed-up to Sonic."You, my friend, are amazing!"

Sonic grinned as he watched Knuckles hug the Master Emerald. He turned to see Tails standing in front of him. The fox had a cheerful look on his face, happy to see Sonic. "I just knew it, Sonic! Deep down inside me I knew that you were still alive!"

"Well, what can I say?" Sonic said as he crossed his arms proudly. "I wasn't going to let a few missiles stop me!" He then put a shoulder onto Tails shoulder. "And besides, I wouldn't want to leave you and the others to suffer living without me. I'd be devestated to leave you guys like that."

Tails slowly nodded to Sonic. Out of nowhere, the fox gave the hedgehog a hug. At first, Sonic was surprised by this. But knowing the others had assumed he was dead, he understood Tails action. He knew he couldn't bare to lose Sonic. And Sonic felt the same way to the fox.

Mario walked up to his brother. Luigi simply was in a state of shock. He couldn't believe his brother was standing in front of him. Mario held his hands out in front of him, asking for a hug. "Come on, bro. I'm-a know you missed me."

Luigi rolled his eyes. "Ehh, come on, I didn't miss you _that _much..." he said in a sarcastic voice. He smiled back to Mario. "But really though, I'm-a glad you're okay." The two brothers hugged, happy to be reunited once more. After they hugged, Luigi noticed that Mario was holding the Jeweled Scepter. "Uhm...how in the world did you happen to get that?"

Mario shrugged. "Well, _he _happened to drop it back at Bowser's Castle." He turned back to the unconscious body of Metal Sonic, who was dropped onto the floor by Sonic. He explained to the others how Metal Sonic suddenly appeared out of no where and rescued them from the missiles shot by Bowser and Eggman.

"Wow, that must have been a surprise." Tails said. He kneeled down to Metal Sonic's body, examining the robot. He noticed how his eyes were lit green instead of the usual red. "Hmm, I'm gonna have to do some inspections on his machinery to find out why he's like this."

"Well, whatever you do, make sure you don't turn him back on by accident." Knuckles told Tails. He patted on his Master Emerald. "I don't want him to cause us more trouble and take the Master Emerald again!"

Sonic suddenly noticed that not all of his friends were here. There was a certain person missing from the group. "Uhm...not that I'm worried or anything, but do you guys know where Amy is?"

"She's in her guest room," Peach answered him. "Right when we returned to the castle, she immediately ran up there and locked herself in. She was really saddened when she thought we lost you forever."

Mario suddenly patted Sonic's shoulder. The plumber winked at him. Sonic knew what Mario was talking about. He turned back to Peach. "Princess, do you mind if you escort me to her room?

Peach nodded. "Of course I may." She motioned him to follow him. The other heroes decided to stay back and watch as Tails looked over Metal Sonic's machinery. Princess Peach and Sonic headed to Amy's guest room. Right outside the hallway, they heard the grieved sobbing of the pink hedgehog.

Princess Peach watched as Sonic walked up to the room's door and knock on it. The sudden shouting of Amy's voice was heard. "GO AWAY!"

Sonic took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He spoke in a gentle voice. "Amy...it's me, Sonic."

The sobbing suddenly stopped. The door to the guest room slowly opened as Amy came into view. Sonic could see the tears that had flowed down her face. Amy simply stared back at Sonic, shocked to see the hedgehog standing in front of her. Sonic gave her a gentle grin.

"SONIC!" Amy shouted his name in glee. She quickly went up to and hugged him. The hedgehog didn't fight back, and instead allowed her to hug him. He even returned back the embrace. "Oh, Sonic! I thought I lost you!" She began to cry again, but these were tears of joy. She was joyful to see Sonic once again.

"It's okay, Ames." Sonic said, trying to comfort her. "I'd never want to leave you like this...I'll always be here for you. You're...special to me" Sonic realized what he had just said. He couldn't believe what he was saying. What was making him say these things? The hedgehog was terribly confused.

Amy looked up to Sonic, still having a few tears over her cheek. "Do you...really mean what you said?"

Sonic thought for a moment. Did he really mean it? He wasn't entirely sure. He simply smiled back to the pink hedgehog. "Of course I do." He lifted one of his hands over her cheeks and wiped away the tears with his glove. The two then stared at each other, noticing their faces were awfully close to each other.

Peach watched as the two continued to stare at each other, waiting for something to happen. But surprisingly, nothing ever did happen after. It was if the two hedgehogs were "hesitant" towards each other, not believing the moment they were having right now. "Alright you two, I'll be heading back with the others. Once you're done with what you are doing, meet us back in the foyer." Peach slowly headed back to the foyer

The two hedgehogs continued staring at each other, still holding each other in their arms. Suddenly, Sonic let go of Amy, having an unsure look on his face. There was this strange feeling in his stomach. It was a pleasant feeling, but at the same time it was also a worried feeling. Sonic had no idea what was going on with him. It was like another side of him suddenly popped out and took control of his body. This had never happened to him before.

"Come on, we should meet up with the others." Sonic said sharply. He immediately headed back to the castle's foyer, leaving Amy shocked to what just happened.

"S...Sonic..." she whispered to herself. Even Amy wondered to herself why Sonic suddenly acted so...caring to her in the last few minutes. She sighed and began to walk back to the castle's foyer. Hopefully, she could figure this all out.

Everyone was finally united in the castle's foyer. Now that they retrieved back both the Jeweled Scepter and Master Emerald, rescued Princess Peach, defeated Eggman, Bowser AND Metal Sonic, they wondered what they would do next.

"I'm guessing the only thing we have left to do is to bring Sonic and his friends back to their world." Luigi said. "I mean, we do have the Jeweled Scepter back."

"Aww...do they really have to?" Yoshi whined. He was saddened by the fact that Sonic and his friends would finally return to their world. But he reminded himself that it was their mission from the start to do so.

Knuckles comforted the dinosaur. "Don't worry, pal. Even though I'll miss that butt-kicking nose of yours, we'll always be friends." Yoshi smiled back to the echidna and high-fived him.

"Hey, will you miss me too?" Luigi asked, pointing to himself and smiling.

"Ehh...not really." Knuckles simply said as he walked towards Tails, who was still looking over Metal Sonic's body near the stairway. Luigi simply pouted and crossed his arms.

"So, what do you think is up with Metal Sonic's body?" Sonic asked his fox friend as he looked over his shoulder.

"Well, the only explanation I can come up with is that Metal Sonic's body quickly activated his "Standby Mode" when it realized he was about to drop into the pool of magma back in Dark Land." Tails explained. He looked up to Sonic and shrugged. "I'm not sure how long he's activated Standby Mode, but I can assure he's still alive."

"Well, what are you guys going to do about it?" Mario asked the two. They thought for a moment, wondering what to do with Metal Sonic's body for now.

"If I had my tools with me, I could find a way to reprogram Metal Sonic so he'll act good." Tails said. It was a stretch, but it was possible for the fox to do so, with his mechanical background Tails could hack into any machine and change the programming.

"You really think you can do that?" Sonic asked him. He thought it would be weird if Metal Sonic began acting "good" like a hero. But anything was better than when the robot doppelganger always tried to kill them.

Tails nodded to Sonic. "With a little tinkering, I can atleast change his programming a bit. Although I need my tools to do so, which of course are back in my workshop. Back in our world."

"Speaking of your world..." Luigi suddenly spoke up. "...when are you guys planning to return?"

Sonic and his friends hadn't thought of when they'd return home. It hadn't come into their mind ever since they were too busy adventuring through Mario's world, sharing journeys with one another.

Peach spoke. "Well, you cannot leave yet. Not until we have a going-away party." Mario and the others agreed with her. It just wouldn't be right for Sonic and his friends to leave their world without a going-away party. After all, it was custom for the people of the Mushroom Kingdom to throw parties whenever someone suddenly had to leave the world.

"Aw! You guys don't _have _to do this!" Sonic insisted. "Really, it's not that neccessary. It's just us leaving your world. Nothing special about that!"

"Oh come on! Don't be shy about it!" Mario tried to convince Sonic. "_You_ and your friends have done so much for us. _You_ made our days much more exciting. _You_ were there for us whenever something wrong happened. _You_ were by our side until the very end of our adventures. It's the least we could do for you."

Sonic thought for a moment. He turned to his friends, wondering what their opinions were. They nodded back at him. Sonic gave the plumber a thumbs-up and a grin. "Alright, I guess we'll have a going-away party!" Mario and his friends cheered in joy. They couldn't wait for the party! Peach assured them there was going to be lots of special events planned. They would invite all their friends and have lots of food made. It would be a party they wouldn't forget!

Sonic patted Mario's back. "You know, about those things you've said about me...I can honestly say the same thing about you and your friends." He smiled to the plumber. Mario smiled back to him. They each high-fived each other. They were glad they had the chance to become good friends with each other.

It would be a festive night for the heroes, one that they would remember forever.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Mario and Sonic are alive and are reunited with the their friends! Now that evil has been defeated and the Jeweled Scepter ad Master Emerald are recovered, one thing the heroes have left to do is throw a going-away party for Sonic and his friends! What festivities will be planned? And how will the the heroes take it when Mario, Sonic and his friends FINALLY have to separate from one another? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Man, who knew we'd finally come this far. From the day Mario and Sonic met each other, to the day they finally have to leave in separate paths. **

**The focus of this chapter was to show what happened to Mario and Sonic after their battle against Bowser and Eggman. It also focused on what Sonic and his friends would do now that they've recoverd BOTH the Jeweled Scepter and the Master Emerald. What luck for them, right? **

**It appears to be that Metal Sonic has been deactivated for now, posing no longer a threat to the heroes. So does that mean they technically win? You decide. ****Also, the title of this chapter is supposed to refer to the current state of Metal Sonic. All he is now is SCRAP METAL to the heroes.**

**And it seems that Bowser has lost almost EVERYTHING in the destruction of his castle! What will happen now? Will he have to finally give up in defeating the Mario Bros? And what happened to Eggman? All this will be answered soon**

**Heheh, for those of the who like romance, you'll love that little scene there with Sonic and Amy. If you're able to understand what I've tried to represent in the scene, don't be afraid and tell us your opinion. Odds are you may be right about what I'm trying to show. If not, then I'll be happy to tell you what it means. Well, sort of, if I feel like it at the time.**

**Well...this is a bit saddening, it looks like Sonic and his friends are close to returning home! But of course, the Mario gang won't allow them to leave without having a going-away party! Such great friends they've become with one another. You'll be expecting characters from previous chapters to come by to the party! What exciting moments will happen at the party? Read the chapter next week!**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter, as much as I've enjoyed typing this chapter. Thanks to everyone for all the support they've given. It means alot to me! Remember that every Saturday is a new chapter update! Don't be shy to ask me questions. I'll be happy to answer! Have a great week everyone! Bye for now! :D**

**P.S. This chapter should be posted near the beginning of December. Hooray! The holidays are almost here! What will you guys be doing for the...actually wait, it feels too early to ask. LOL. Anyway, it's almost winter break, which is something I'm definitely looking forward to.**

**********__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	45. Goodbye Forever?

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 45: Goodbye Forever?**_

* * *

_**Toad Town, Princess Peach's Castle **_

It was a peaceful evening in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun was just setting into the horizon. Right now, the staff of Peach's castle were hastily preparing for a big event. It was a going-away party for Sonic and his friends, who were returning to their dimension later in the night.

"Hurry up, my Toads!" Toadsworth demanded the staff in the ballroom. "We must make this party one that Sonic and his friends will never forget!"

The Toad staff worked as fast as they could. They decorated the ball room to make it look festive by hanging colorful ribbons and balloons around on the walls. The Toad staff also prepared lots of food for the event.

Princess Peach walked into the ball room, looking around at the hard work and effort the Toad staff were putting into the party. "Everything is looking according to plan." The princess turned to Toadsworth, who was helping by setting up the chairs and tables. "Have all the guests arrived to the party?"

"I can assure you they have princess," Toadsworth said to her. All the guests who were invited to the party were friends that the heroes had met through their journey. They all waited in the throne room, preparing for the big surprise they planned to do at the party. "have the Mario Bros. gotten Sonic and his friends to do the 'decoy' errand?"

Peach nodded. The Mario Bros. had made Sonic and his friends go out and pick up a 'decoy' parcel at the Toad Post Office. In reality, it was simply a distraction so they could prepare for the going-away party and surprise them. Even though Sonic and his friends knew they would have a party, they didn't know exactly when it would be held

Suddenly, Yoshi ran into the ball room. He was running so fast he almost ran into a pair of the Toad staff. He quickly ran up to Peach and Toadsworth. "Sonic and the others are almost here! They just entered through the castle gates!"

"My goodness! this isn't good!" Toadsworth shouted in panic. He hollered at the Toad staff. "Quickly everyone! The guests of honor have almost arrived! We must have everything prepared by then!"

"Yoshi, may you please go to the throne room and tell all the guests to come here for the big surprise 'ambush'? " Peach asked him. Yoshi nodded and quickly rushed out of the ball room.

The Toad staff began to rush before Sonic and frinds arrived. They quickly got out the food and placed it onto the serving table. The confetti blasters were prepared. Peach gazed around the ball room, impressed by their work.

_Sonic and his friends are going to love this!_

* * *

_**Toad Town, Outside the Castle Doors**_

Meanwhile, the Sonic gang were walking up the front courtyard of the castle, heading towards the front doors. With them, was the parcel the Mario Bros. had sent them to get. It was a gold-coated square box, wrapped with a matching golden ribbon.

"Gee, I wonder what's inside this parcel?" Sonic asked the others as he carried the parcel in both hands.

"Yeah, and I wonder why the princess told the Mario Bros. to tell us to pick it up at the post office." Knuckles whined. "I mean, don't you think packages meant for the castle should be specially sent straight to the castle itself?"

"Maybe the Mail Toads were too lazy to deliver packages today." Tails suggested. Knuckles grumbled, saying how the mail service in the Mushroom Kingdom seemed snoozy.

"I can't believe you guys are complaining over sluggish mail services!" Amy complained to them. "Aren't any of you feeling sad that soon we have to leave this world? We won't be able to see our friends again."

"Well, I have the Master Emerald back, so I don't really care if I miss this world." Knuckles said. He quickly got a bonk on the head by Amy's Piko Piko Hammer. The echidna fell onto the grass, dazed from the attack. He then got up, angered by the sudden attack. "HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"

"For being a knucklehead!" Amy yelled at him. She was mad Knuckles couldn't feel the same sorrow like the others for leaving this world.

"Amy...you've got to stop doing that." Sonic told her in an annoyed voice. Amy calmed down, then apologized for her tantrum. Knuckles pointed at her and chuckled, until Sonic snapped at him. "Hey, she isn't the only one to be blamed for the fight that just happened."

Knuckles grumbled, then reluctantly apologized. "Fine, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I guess I was being a little too insensitive."

"Good for you, knucklehead." Sonic joked with him. Knuckles was about to scream his head off at him, but decided it was not worth it. He crossed his arms and headed towards the castle by himself.

Tails suddenly sighed in sadness. "I'm going to miss everyone here." He lowered his head. He had really enjoyed the time he spent with his new friends in their world. Sonic saw the stress in his best friends face and tried to comfort him.

"Aww, don't worry about it, Tails. Even if we have to leave this world, we still have our other friends back in our world." Tails nodded back to him. Still, he felt depressed he had to leave his new friends he grew close to in the past few days.

The three quickly caught up with Knuckles, who was waiting for them in front of the castle doors. Sonic knocked on them, waiting for someone to open it for them. The doors opened, revealing the Mario Bros. Luigi greeted them. "Hi guys! We were waiting for you. Were you able to retrieve the parcel for the princess?"

"Of course we did!" Sonic said as he showed them the golden package in his hands. He and the others entered the castle. The hedgehog handed the parcel to Mario.

"The princess will be grateful you could do her errand." Mario said, looking at the parcel. He looked up to Luigi, who winked back at him. Mario turned back to the others. "Hey, listen. The princess told me she has one more errand for you guys to do. She's waiting for you in the ball room. If you don't mind, will you go there and see what she has for you to do?"

"It better not be another parcel..." Knuckles grumbled in frustration. His friends had heard him and simply glared at him. The echidna awkwardly smiled back to them. "...I'm just kidding!"

"Don't worry, Mario and Luigi. Of course we'll do whatever the princess has for us." Amy said. The Mario Bros. nodded to them. They quickly went up the foyer stairs and into one of the second floor doorways. The Sonic gang wondered where they were headed.

"Well, I guess we should head to the ball room then." Sonic said. The others agreed and headed for the ball room. When they got to the ball room doors, they were strangely closed shut. They opened and entered the ball room.

Suddenly, an explosion of confetti was shot out at them. In front of them were all their friends, cheerfully shouting out to them. "SURPRISE!"

"Wow!" Tails exclaimed. He and the others gazed around the ball room. It was decorated with ribbons and balloons. There was a whole table of food. A huge banner with the words, "Farewell! We will miss you!" was hung across the ball room.

"This must be our going-away party!" Amy said. She was impressed how the others were able to keep the party secret from them.

"It sure is!" Yoshi said, holding a party blower in his hand. "And all of our friends are here to see you go." He showed them all their friends that were present in the ball room. There, standing in front of them were all the friends Sonic and the gang had made through their journeys in the Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach, Toadsworth, Professor E. Gadd, Princess Daisy, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Toadette and Catherine were there for them.

"You guys are the best!" Sonic said as he smiled to all of them. He suddenly noticed the Mario Bros. weren't there with them. "Hey...where are Mario and Luigi?"

Suddenly, the ball room doors swung wide open, revealing both Mario and Luigi carrying a plate full of chili dogs with them. "SURPRISE!" they both yelled out as they walked in. Sonic's eyes widened when he saw the plate of chili dogs.

"No way...you guys actually made some!" He ran up to the plate of chili dogs and took a big whiff, relieved to finally smell the aroma of his favourite food after a long time.

"We knew how much you like chili dogs, Sonic." Mario said as he and his brother placed the plate along with the rest of the food. "So we made a fresh batch for you so you can eat at you heart's content before you return to your world."

Sonic appreciated the gesture. He looked to each and everyone of his new friends, seeing the delighted looks on their faces. He smiled. "You guys are truly the greatest friends any of us could ever have. We'll definitely miss you guys when we return back to our world."

"Aw! That means alot to us!" Toadette spoke. "We'll certainly miss you guys when you're gone."

"I have to admit, things have been really hectic ever since you guys appeared in our world," Donkey Kong said, reminicsing about their adventures with them. "but I had alot of fun, that's for sure!"

"Yeah! We had alot of fun!" Diddy Kong repeated, jumping up and down in excitement.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have the opportunity to attempt to create new gadgets and inventions," Profesor E. Gadd spoke, regarding his Gadd 3Ds Horror and failed Dimension Teleportificationtron. "thank you for the inspiration and ideas you have given me."

Sonic and the gang admired the heart-warming words everyone said about them. They were lucky to meet such remarkble friends.

"Now come on! Let's make this party something that Sonic and his friends will never forget! Whoooo!" Daisy exclaimed, pumping her fists high into the air. Everyone agreed and the party soon began.

* * *

A few hours had passed since the party had started and it was still lively as ever. Everyone talked to each other and seemed to be having fun. The Sonic crew's sad feelings of leaving their friends had disappeared ever since they basked themselves into the life of the party.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying the party." Luigi said to Mario. He took another sip of his Peach Juice and looked around, seeing everyone enjoying themselves. Yoshi was snuggling with Catherine at a table. Professor E. Gadd and Tails were talking about machines and such. Amy, the princeses and Toadette were conversing with one another. The Kongs and Knuckles were fooling around with each other.

"Hmm..that's strange." Mario said to himself. He had looked around the ball room and found that Sonic was no where to be seen. He became worried. "Hey, Luig, hold my drink will ya." He gave his glass of Peach Juice to his brother. He quickly headed out of the ball room, wondering where Sonic was.

"So...how is the emerald I gave you?" Catherine asked Yoshi sweetly. She gave the green dinosaur an engaging stare, then rested her head against his shoulder. This action always made Yoshi a little shy around her, but he liked they way she stared at him.

"Heheh, I really adore it," Yoshi said. "especially since I've received it from you." Suddenly, he took two grapes from his dinner plate, stuck them into the nostrils of his nose and closed his eyes, making it appear he had these purple, beady eyes on his nose. He turned to Catherine and waved his tongue out wildly, speaking in a goofy voice "I see you!"

"Ahaha! Oh my gosh Yoshi, you always find ways to make me laugh!" Catherine said. That's what she loved about Yoshi, his happy, charismic, charming and funny personality.

"So sister," Daisy began to speak to Peach. "Why don't you tell us about this emerald you recently got?"

"Yeah! Please do!" Toadette exclaimed.

"Well, if you insist." Peach started. She told the girls how one day she recieved a mysterious package. Inside it contained an exquisite, cyan jewel in an emerald cut. The other girls were fascinated. "I think that Mario sent it anonymously. It seems so sweet of him."

"Aww! How romantic!" Amy said. "If only Sonic would do things like that for me." Toadette asked her if she and Sonic were 'together' "Well...not really...our relationship is kind of complicated. Whenever I try to show my charm to him, he always seems to run off."

"Girl, he's running away from you because he's shy arond you!" Daisy explained to Amy. "Some boys are like that. Don't worry honey, he'll return his feelings for you eventually. Just don't give up!" Amy nodded to Daisy's advice. The pink hedgehog then remembered about the moment she shared with Sonic earlier that day.

_Could that be a sign?_

Near the corner of the ball room, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Knuckles were seeing who could balance a plate of stacked bananas the longest. Diddy Kong had already dropped his plate, which left Donkey Kong and Knuckles in the competition.

"Come on, Donkey Kong! You can beat him!" cheered Diddy Kong. He watched as the ape easily balanced his plate of towering bananas, while Knuckles was struggling to keep his tower steady.

"Nonononononono!" Knuckles yelled as his tower of bananas tipped over and fell off his plate, creating a huge mess of bananas on the floor. "Gah! No way! I demand a rematch!"

"Sorry, redhead!" Donkey Kong said as he took a banana from the bottom of his tower and threw it in his mouth, eating it in one bite. "But I can only win so many times in one night! Maybe next time!"

"Are you stupid? There won't BE a next time! I'll be gone in my world by then!" Knuckles shouted at the ape's stupidity. Donkey Kong remembered he was leaving and sighed sadly.

"Oh yeah...sorry about that." the ape carefully placed his banana tower on a dinng table. He scratched his head, thinking of something else the three could do. "Hey! Wanna see this cool treasure I found?"

"Treasure, you say..." Knuckles said, interested. He scratched the bottom of his chin. "Alright then, show me this treasure of yours."

Donkey Kong grinned as he went through his pockets. He was surprised when he couldn't find his emerald. Diddy Kong reminded the ape. "Donkey Kong! Don't you remember that you left the jewel back at our treehouse?"

"Oh...right..." Donkey Kong said, disappointed. He shrugged to Knuckles. "Sorry, man, I guess I forgot to bring it along with me."

Knuckles shook his head. "Can you atleast describe it to me?"

Donkey Kong was about to describe the jewel when Luigi suddenly joined their conversaton. "Hey guys! What are you talking about?"

"I was about to tell Knuckles about my emerald." Donkey Kong explained to the plumber. He began to describe his treasure. "Well, it's a really shiny emerald that seems to glow in the dark. It's shaped in this triangular shape and it's really sharp. It's also this silvery color."

Luigi imagined Donkey Kong's emerald in his mind. "Hey! What a coincidence! I found this emerald that looks and acts the same like yours. Only mine is this blueish color." Donkey Kong thought that was cool and high-fived the plumber.

On the other hand, Knuckles thought it was weird they each had the same exact kind of emeralds that looked similar in appearance and had the ability to glow. "Strange...those jewels that you guys have really remind me of these certain emeralds back in my world..."

A few minutes later, Mario ran back into the ball room. He had spent quite a while looking for Sonic in the castle, but he had no luck in finding him. He thought about giving up until Tails and Professor E. Gadd spoke to him.

"Hey Mario!" Tails greeted him. "Me and the professor were just talking about you and thought about something. Where do you keep all the coins you find in your adventures?"

"Uhm...I don't really know." Mario simply answered. He asked the two a question. "Do you guys know where Sonic ran off to? I've been looking for him around the castle for the past half hour!"

"Hmm...if I recall, he told me and the young fox here that he was going out for a short run." Gadd explained to the plumber.

"A run?" Mario repeated him. The plumber thought for a moment. He wondered why would he go for a run when it was his going-away party "Do you know exactly where he'd say he would run to?" Both Tails and Gadd shrugged. All they knew was Sonic told them he'd go for a run. The hedgehog had quickly left after he'd said so.

Mario decided to check outside around the castle for once. He knew if Sonic really did go out for a run around the kingdom, he'd have no chance in finding him right outside. But it wouldn't hurt if the plumber checked. He headed out of the castle and looked around the nearby grounds. It was night outside when he had checked. The moon was shining brightly in the starry, blue sky.

"Well...I hope he comes back soon." Mario said to himself. He headed back towards the castle entrance when suddenly he spotted a figure sitting on top of the roof of the castle, staring at the nearby lake of Toad Town. It was none other than Sonic.

"Hey! Sonic!" Mario shouted up to him, waving to get his attention. Sonic didn't answer, as he was in a deep train of thought. Mario decided he had to get up close to Sonic. The plumber took a mighty jump up to the castle rooftop and headed towards Sonic. "Hey Sonic, what are you doing up here all by yourself? You should be enjoying the party with everyone else."

Sonic didn't answer him and continued to stare out into the lake. Mario shrugged and decided to join him. He sat down beside the hedgehog and gazed at the lake with him. It sparkled under the radiance of the moonlight.

"Really nice view, isn't it?" Mario spoke. He turned to the hedgehog. "Are there any places in your world with amazing views such as this?"

Sonic slowly nodded to the plumber, still keeping his eyes on the lake. Mario noticed how quiet Sonic was being at the moment. "Hey, is there something the matter Sonic?"

There was a moment of silence between the two friends. Suddenly, Sonic spoke. "I'm really going to miss you guys." He frowned and suddenly laid his face into his lap.

Mario had never seen Sonic this depressed before. He always saw the hedgehog gleaming in his carefree attitude. And now he was reduced to into a dismayed feeling. Mario tried to think of something to cheer the hedgehog up. "Sonic, I know it must be hard to leave friends you've grown close to. But don't worry about it, just be happy you got the opportunity to know them. I know I'm very grateful to meet you and your friends."

"I know..." Sonic said. He sighed. "It's weird though. I've been through so many adventures in my past and made tons of other friends back then. When I had to leave them, I was sad, but this time it's different. It's like I'm leaving more than that. I just don't know what it is!"

Mario nodded to him, understanding what Sonic had meant. He thought for a moment. Did Sonic and the others really think of Mario and them to be more than friends? It was crazy. Maybe this was a bigger deal to the hedgehog than he had thought. "I remember, Sonic, you told me that no matter what happens in your life, no matter how tough the choices you have to make, you always have to trust yourself and say everything will be okay." He turned to the hedgehog. "Why aren't you doing that now?"

Sonic knew he was right. He had to trust himself that even though he was going to miss his new friends, it wasn't going to be the end of the world. He knew that knowing that everybody would be alright was what actually mattered, and that everything would be okay. The hedgehog had grown too attached to Mario and the others that he forgot about his own advice. Sonic looked back to the plumber and smiled to him.

"You're right, Mario. Maybe I shouldn't dwell into the negative of this situation. I should know that after this, everything will be okay. No matter how much I'll miss you guys, I'll just be glad to know you're alright and that I got the chance to meet you."

Mario patted Sonic's shoulder. He was proud of the hedgehog. He had grown into a very humble and courageous hero ever since they first met. Mario remembered the day he rescued Sonic from the very same lake they stared at right now. He began to wonder if their meeting wasn't by chance, but by destiny. To make them aware of their different worlds.

"Come on, we should head back inside." Mario said. Sonic agreed. They both stood up and carefully jumped back down from the castle's rooftop and headed back into the castle's ball room. When they entered, everyone inside looked back to them.

"We were wondering where you guys went," Tails said. He held the Jeweled Scepter in his hands. Sonic saw this and knew what it meant. It was time for them to return to their world.

"It is getting awfully late," Princess Peach told them. "your friends thought it was time for you to return to your world before everyone else has to leave."

Sonic frowned and slowly nodded. He walked up to Tails and grabbed the Jeweled Scepter from him. He had never done a spell with it before, but Mario told him it was easy to cast. He just had to think really hard of what he wanted.

"Before you guys go..." Luigi spoke. "we have a gift we want to give you guys so you can remember about us." Suddenly, he took out the golden parcel Sonic and his friends picked up for the princess. He gave it to Sonic. The hedgehog carefully unwrapped it and took out the contents of the box. It was a Power Star, shining brightly in his hands.

"What the...where did you find this?" Sonic asked him. Luigi explained that after the explosion of the Dimension Teleportificationtron happened, Gadd had to clean up the mess. When he looked through the rubble, he had found that one of their Power Stars survived the catastrophe. They thought it was best for Sonic and his friends to keep it, as a momento of their adventures they shared together.

"We're going to really miss you guys." Yoshi spoke. His voice had cracked when he tried to prevent himself from showing his sad emotions. Catherine tried to comfort the dinosaur.

Amy saw how sad the dinosaur was and couldn't help herself but cry out to him. "Oh! We're going to miss you guys!" She went up to him and gave the dinosaur a hug.

Tails couldn't bare to leave without hugging his friends. He went up to the two and hugged them. "I'm going to miss riding on your saddle! It' won't be the same when we're back in our world!"

"Oh great...I was hoping we wouldn't get this emotional." Knuckles whispered to himself, crossing his arms. He had the Master Emerald beside him. He couldn't wait to place it back into the shrine at Angel Island where it belonged.

Donkey Kong heard the echidna's statement. "Aww, come on man! Try to feel the love in this room!" The ape suddenly lifted the echidna into the air and hugged him. Knuckles struggled to get out of his grasp. Donkey Kong let him go and proceeded to Tails and Amy, carrying them into his arms, hugging them both. "I'm gonna miss you guys!"

"So, I guess this is it then." Luigi spoke to Sonic. He held his hand out to him, offering him a goodbye handshake. "It's been a real blast with you guys." Sonic shook his hand, but suddenly got pulled into a hug by Luigi. The plumber cried out. "Waaah! I'm going to miss having adventures with you guys! Why do you have to leave!"

"Don't worry Luigi, I'll definitely miss you." Sonic said, still embraced in Luigi's hug. It took him a while to get Luigi off him.

"We'll certainly miss your presence here." Peach said to Tails and Amy. "Your noble actions and the friendships we've made with you will always be remembered and cherished in our hearts."

"We'll really miss you princess." Amy said, smiling at her. "We cannot show how much gratitude and thanks we have for what you've done for us. Honestly, thank you."

Sonic went up to Yoshi and petted his saddle. "I'm really going to miss that tongue of yours, Yoshi. It helped us alot in our adventures." Yoshi smiled and licked Sonic's face. The two shook hands and hugged.

"We'll certainly miss you two the most," Tails said to the Mario Bros. He spoke for him and Amy. "Promise us you'll stay super, will you?"

"We will!" Mario promised them. He and his brother hugged both Tails and Amy. "Make sure you keep an eye on Sonic," Mario said to Tails. He turned to Amy and gave her a thumbs-up. "And good luck between you and Sonic!"

"Don't worry, I think we'll be alright." Amy assured Mario and smiled to him. She looked back to Sonic, who was saying his farewell to Princess Peach.

Sonic and his friends said goodbye to the rest of Mario's friends. After they said their goodbyes, everyone went out to the back courtyard outside the castle, where Sonic would cast out the teleportation spell back to their world. By then, the moon was in it's highest point in the sky. The courtyard still looked beautiful as ever in the moonlight, with the shrubs and plants looking healthy as ever. Near the other end of the courtyard, was the Chop Chop Helicopter parked on it's helipad. It reminded the heroes of their journeys they took on it.

"Do you guys have everything that you need?" Peach asked Sonic and the others. They assured them they did. Knuckles carried his Master Emerald with him. Sonic had the Jeweled Scepter in his hands and had the unconscious body of Metal Sonic thrown over his shoulder. The robot was still in standby mode.

"I certainly won't miss _that_ heap of junk." Luigi whispered to Yoshi. The dinosaur agreed. They were relieved they wouldn't have to deal with Metal Sonic in their world anymore.

Sonic took a deep breath. He looked to Tails, Amy and Knuckles, who nodded back to him. Sonic waved the Jeweled Scepter in the air and cast a teleportation spell to their world. Suddenly, a bright, white portal appeared in front of them. Unlike the shadow portals, this light portal gave out a soothing harmonic tune when it swirled in front of them.

"Finally! Home!" Knuckles exclaimed. He was about to enter the portal, but he seemed to hesitate. He suddenly looked back to Mario and his friends. For some reason, he had this strange feeling that he would miss them. He smiled back to them. "...goodbye guys. Thanks for everything!"

Mario and his friends waved goodbye to Sonic and his friends, wishing them farewell and good luck in their world. They all said goodbye to them. "Goodbye Sonic! Goodbye Tails! Goodbye Amy! Goodbye Knuckles!"

"We'll miss you everybody!" Tails waved to them. He propelled his two tails and slowly flew into the light portal. A bright flash emitted when he entered it.

"We'll never forget all of you!" Amy called out to them and waved back. She looked up to the portal and took a deep breath. She jumped inside the portal, causing another bright light to emit from it.

"Come on, Sonic. Let's go home." Knuckles spoke to him. He jumped into the light portal, carrying along the Master Emerald with him.

Sonic looked at the light portal in front of him. Once he'd jump in, the portal would close, disconnecting their world from Mario's. This was the last time he would be able to see Mario and his friends, as after he would have to return the Jeweled Scepter back to it's rightful place.

_It's the right thing to do._ Sonic thought to himself.

The hedgehog turned back to Mario, smiled, and gave him a thumbs-up. Mario smiled and returned his thumbs-up. Sonic waved back to everyone else. He turned back to the light portal and entered it, bringing along the Jeweled Scepter and Metal Sonic with him.

Mario thought he was imagining things, but as he watched Sonic leave, right before he entered the portal, the plumber thought he saw a small teardrop fall from the hedgehog's cheek.

"Goodbye...Sonic the Hedgehog." Mario said to himself.

The light portal slowly disappeared out of the courtyard. Mario and his friends continued to stare at where the portal was. There was a long moment of silence. They knew Sonic and his friends where back to where they belonged. They were home...

* * *

**_Mushroom City, Top of the Empire Shroom Building_**

It was a busy night in the Mushroom City. Building windows were lit up, lighting up the whole city in the dark night. Streets were crowded with screeching traffic. Even though it was almost midnight, the city had much life in it.

On top of the famous Empire Shroom Building, sat a familiar koopaling. He sat at the edge of the building rooftop, overlooking the whole city. Beside him was his toy chest. It was a wooden chest, painted a light-greenish color. Behind him was his parked Junior Clown Car.

Junior was thinking to himself. He couldn't believe what had happened in the last few hours. His papa's castle had collapsed into ruins due to the heroes actions. Eggman's doomsday machine fell into the volcano's lava and Junior finally knew the true identity of the shadow figure.

He knew this because he had watched everything unfold in front of him back at Bowser's Castle. He secretly watched Mario and Sonic defeat his papa and the doctor in his secret hole, hidden by one of the throne room's curtains.

Right when the Mario and Sonic were almost obliterated by Eggman's missiles, the shadow figure had appeared and rescued them. That was when the shadow figures true identity was revealed to Junior. A robot that looked exactly like Sonic.

When Junior realized his papa's castle was beginning to collapse from Eggman's malfunctioning missile launch, he knew he had to get out of the castle fast. He quickly went up to his bedroom and dragged his toy chest along with him. He jumped into his Junior Clown Car and escaped from Dark Land.

"I can't believe all this happened." Junior said in a voice of disbelief. It was all too much for the koopaling to handle. He didn't know what happened to both his papa, Eggman and the shadow figure. He assumed Mario and Sonic escaped, because he saw them take the Jeweled Scepter, which they could have used to escape the falling castle.

Junior looked to his toy chest and patted it. He knew what he had to do. It was the back-up plan he and the shadow figure made. They would only initiate it if anything happened to the shadow figure. He was gone, so Junior had to continue their plan without him.

The koopaling opened his toy chest. Inside, was the REAL Jeweled Scepter and the Master Emerald. The one's that the heroes had were fake copies made by the shadow figure. He knew the heroes would do anything to take the artifacts back when they realized the artifacts were stolen. After the battle back at Rainbow Castle, the shadow figure made copies of them to fool the heroes if they were ever able to defeat the shadow figure himself.

Junior took out his Purple Chaos Emerald and looked at it. He then put his bib over his mouth, giving out a vengeful look. He knew what he had to do.

"It's time for the ritual!"

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles have finally returned to their world! But it looks like Junior is planning something. What could it be? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Finally! Our heroes have succeeded their mission into returning Sonic and his friends back home. And what a heartwarming farewell they had. Even though Mario, Sonic, and their friends would really miss each other, they were glad they got the opportunity to meet one another and share fantastic adventures. They would cherish the fond memories forever. Just like how we have to leave our friends in real life. We still remember them and are grateful that they've become friends with us.**

**I tried to make the first half of the chapter light-hearted and fun to read, while the second half would show the grief the heroes would face, knowing that soon they would have to separate into their own worlds. Literally.**

**By the way, I remember that in a review somewhere, someone wanted me to parody a scene from a movie, by making Yoshi play around with grapes and making them look like his eyes. Well, I remembered the request and made sure I put in the story. Hopefully, that person will be happy to know I honored their request!**

**It looks like even though the heroes are finished their journey, there is still some action that's supposed to happen. I'm talking about Junior. What could he mean by 'ritual'? Do you know what he's talking about? You may be able to find out if you can reflect on what he and the shadow figure have been talking about throughout the story.**

**Anyways, I don't want to drag this on any longer. I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has supported me! It means a lot! Remember to come back next week for the next chapter! Look at my profile for updates and such. If you have any questions, don't be shy to ask! Bye for now! :D**

**********__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	46. The Ritual!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 46: The Ritual!_**

* * *

**_Outside the Mario Bros. house_**

It was midnight in the Mushroom Kingdom. The moon shone brightly in the starry sky. At the moment, the Mario Bros. were walking back to their home. They were the last to leave the going-away party of Sonic and his friends. They offered to help clean up, but Peach insisted they didn't need to and the Toad staff would do all the cleaning.

"I'm really going to miss Sonic and his friends." Luigi spoke to his brother as they walked to the front of thier house. He scratched his chin. "I wonder if they were able to return to their world."

"Hopefully they did," Mario said. "otherwise, who knows what other world they might end up in." He chuckled a little at the joke he made.

"Yeah...good one bro." Luigi said, sarcastically. The two had reached the front porch of their home. Luigi took out his keys and unlocked the door. The front door opened with a creak. He entered their house first. "Oh boy! I can't wait into jump into bed and fall asleep!"

Mario was about to enter their home when he realized their mailbox was open. Curious, he walked up to it and looked inside. There was an object inside it. Mario reached in and took out the object, examining it carefully. It was a red emerald. It began glow in his hands.

"Hmm...I wonder who would mail us something like this." Mario said. He decided to show his brother. He rushed into their house, closing the door behind him, and went upstairs to their bedroom. He found Luigi already slumped on his bed, fast asleep. Mario shook him, trying to wake him up. "Luigi! Look what I've got!"

"Ugh...what is it bro?" Luigi slowly turned his head out of his pillow and looked at the emerald in Mario's hand. He quickly sat up, surprised to see the jewel. "No way! That looks like the emerald that I found!"

"You found an emerald in the mailbox too?" Mario asked him, confused. Luigi corrected his brother, saying he found his emerald under his hat. He quickly went up to his drawer and took out the blue emerald he found.

"I found it under my hat after we found our last Power Star at Rainbow Castle." Luigi explained to Mario. "I'm not sure how it got there though." Luigi remembered about Donkey Kong telling him he also found a silver emerald back at the jungle. He decided to tell Mario this.

"Strange," Mario said. He thought it was weird how the heroes suddenly ended up finding emeralds out of no where. "I think we should head to Congo Jungle tomorrow and take a look at Donkey Kong's emerald. We'll see if there's any connection between our emeralds."

Luigi agreed, then yawned. It was really late and the plumber wanted to sleep so badly. He was about to jump back into bed when something unexpected happened. Somebody suddenly crashed through their bedroom window, causing glass to fly across the room, spilling around the floor.

The Mario Bros. turned to the person who crashed through their window. They were surprised to see that a cloaked figure was the one who did it. The cloaked figure turned his head to them. His face was covered by a white bib with a picture of sharp teeth painted on it. In his hand, was the Jeweled Scepter.

"What the-" Mario gasped, noticing the Jeweled Scepter. "I thought that Sonic and the others had the Jeweled Scepter."

"Well, they don't!" the cloaked figure shouted at them. He pointed the Jeweled Scepter at the Mario Bros. preparing a purple spell at them. "You two are going to pay for what you've done to my papa's castle!"

Suddenly, the cloaked figure shot out the purple spell at both Mario and Luigi. It knocked them both unconcsious. They fell onto the floor, dropping their emeralds onto the floor.

The cloaked figure walked up to the fallen brothers and carried them over his shoulder. He then picked up the red and blue chaos emeralds and stuck them into each of the brother's pockets. He headed towards the broken window. He needed the Mario Bros, as they were part of his ritual.

_It's time to pick up the rest of the Star Children!_

* * *

**_Mushroom Plains_**

It was peaceful night out in the Mushroom Plains. The rolling green grass was scattered with Warp Pipes leading to the underground and Floating Question Blocks still waiting to get smashed by anyone who passed by.

Somewhere, on the tallest hill in the plains, were six people. They laid down on the hill in the formation of a circle. The people were unconscious. Someone had brought all of them there for a reason. A reason none of the people ever agreed to.

"Ow...my head..." Luigi complained to himself. He sat up, holding his hands to his head. He had a big headache and it felt awful to him. He looked around, finding himself in the Mushroom Plains. "What the...how did I get here?"

Suddenly, the person beside him began to regain concsious. Luigi looked to the left of him, seeing Yoshi slowly sit up. The dinosaur scratched the back of his head, also having a big headache. " Ugh...what happened?"

"Yoshi!" Luigi said to him. The dinosaur turned to him and asked what was going on. "I don't know, but I have a terrible feeling about this and I think we should get out of here! Fast!"

When Luigi finished his sentence, the person beside Yoshi began to regain concsious. It was none other than Donkey Kong. The ape sat up and looked around. "Hey! Where am I? How did I get here?"

"Oh, hi DK!" Yoshi greeted him. The ape noticed him and waved back to him. Yoshi asked him a question. "Do you have any idea what's going on right now?"

The ape shrugged. "I don't know. The last thing I remember was that I was back home with Diddy Kong after we left from the going-away party we held for Sonic and his friends. Suddenly, we were ambushed by this cloaked figure and I got shot by this purple spell."

"Hey! The same thing happened to me back at my island!" Yoshi told Donkey Kong. "What a coincidence _that _must have been!"

"Hmm, that also happened to me too." Luigi added. He thought for a moment. It was weird the exact same thing happened to all of them. He began to wonder who this cloaked figure was. Suddenly, the person laying beside Donkey Kong began to regain consciousness.

"Grrrr! What happened?" Wario shouted. He quickly got up and looked around him, finding himself on top of the hill with Luigi, Yoshi and Donkey Kong. "Hey you brats! Why am I here? Did any of you drag me here? Why, if you did, I'm going to clobber each of you!" Wario clenched both his teeth and fists ready to knock the life out of the three.

Luigi rolled his eyes. He wasn't too happy to see Wario. In fact, none of them were happy to see him. "Calm down, Wario. We're all clueless as you are."

"Don't play games with me, green boy!" Wario shouted at him. He pointed at Luigi, showing his angry face at him. He walked up to him. "I know you and you're brother are up to something! If this is another one of your _Mario Parties _then I ain't playing! I'm sick and tired of losing those things!"

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?" Luigi said, angered by Wario's attitude. He threw his face against the fat plumber. The two began to eye at each other. There were sparks going on between the two. Yoshi and Donkey Kong simply watched Luigi and Wario stare each other down. Before any rough play happened, they heard voice speak out. They all turned to the next person who was regaining conscious on the hill.

"Oh my...my head feels awful." Peach complained as she slowly sat up. She rubbed her forehead, trying to soothe her headache. She noticed the four staring back at her. "Oh, hello. What are all of you up to at the moment?"

"Princess!" Luigi called to her. He quickly disregarded Wario and rushed up to Peach's side. "Are you okay? How did you get here?"

"Well, this may sound strange," Peach started. "but after the going-away party we held for Sonic, I was in my room, getting ready for bed when suddenly this cloaked figure appeared out of no where and shot this purple spell at me. After that, everything went blank."

"What the!" Wario shouted in anger. He began to stomp his foot in the ground in frustration. "You guys had a going-away party...without me? I would have made that party better! In fact, I would've been the life of that party!"

"Oh, shut up, Wario!" Yoshi growled at him. "No one would even want you there anyway!" Wario turned to the dinosaur and gave him a dirty look. Yoshi stared back at him and stuck his tongue out as a warning. Wario quickly got the message and backed off. He didn't want to be encased inside a giant egg _again._

"Wow, the same thing had happened to all of us too," Luigi told the princess after he heard her story. He began to think that something suspicious was going on. "I think we all should get out of here before something bad happens." He helped Peach up. They all were about to leave the hill when Luigi remembered about Mario. "Hey, do you guys know where my brother is?"

"Uhm...he's right there." Donkey Kong said, pointing at Mario's unconscious body that laid on the ground only a few feet away from them.

Luigi ran up to his brother's body and gently shook him. He began to whisper to him. "Hey bro! Wake up! Something really weird is going on and we really need you to wake up right now!" At first, Mario didn't wake up, and instead grumbled something about pasta in his sleep. Luigi rolled his eyes and slapped his brother's face.

"Mamamia!" Mario shouted out in pain. He rubbed his slapped cheek, looking up to see his brother. "Luigi! How could you slap me like that! I was having a _very_ nice dream!"

"Gah! We don't have time for that, bro!" Luigi told Mario as he helped him up. He began to explain the situation they were in. "Listen, bro. Remember that cloaked figure that attacked us back at our house? Well, he did the same thing to the others," Luigi pointed to the others, Mario noticed them. "I think something really strange is happening and I suggest we should really get outta here."

Mario nodded to him. He began to look around the Mushroom Plains, find the shortest route they could take back to Toad Town, or any civilization. "We must be very far into the plains! I don't see any buildings around us!"

"W-what do we do then?" Yoshi asked Mario in a worried tone. Peach comforted the dinosaur, telling him everything would be alright.

The heroes...and Wario, began to think of what do next. They had no idea where they were out in the Mushroom Plains, so they either had to walk out through the plains and try to find civilization, or try their luck with the pipes and hopefully warp to a place they were familiar with.

Out of nowhere, a small, dark portal appeared in the air above the heroes. They all turned, wondering how it got there. Suddenly, the same cloaked figure that kidnapped them jumped out of the portal. It landed on the grass in front of them and stared to each of them slowly. It then removed it's hood, revealing his identity.

"Bowser Jr!" Peach gasped, surprised to see the koopaling. The others were also shocked to see Junior. The Mario Bros. stood in front of the princess, intending to defend her if Junior attacked. Yoshi and Donkey growled at him, while Wario simply "dug for gold" uninterested in the situation.

"The one and only!" Junior said, waving the Jeweled Scepter in his hand. Suddenly, a green spell emitted from it's top end. A green light appeared beside him. The light flashed and disappeared, revealing the Master Emerald beside him.

"Huh? The Master Emerald?" Luigi gasped. He and the others were really confused. They thought that Sonic and his friends brought back both the Master Emerald AND the Jeweled Scepter to their world. Now suddenly Junior had them! "How do you even have them, Junior? We saw Sonic bring those artifacts back to his world!"

"Are you talking about those lame fake copies Sonic and his friends kept? HAH!" Junior pointed to both the Jeweled Scepter and Master Emerald. "_These _are the real deal!" Junior suddenly cast a shadow bolt from the Jeweled Scepter. It was shot towards Luigi. It hit the plumber, causing purple bolts of electricity to shock his body. The shock was ten times more powerful than a regular electricity shot, meaning it hurt Luigi more.

"LUIGI!" Mario shouted to his brother. He ran up to his brother, who was lying down on the ground. He was greatly wounded by the attack. Mario kneeled to his brother's side, picking him up in his arms. "Are you okay bro?"

"Yeah...I'm fine..." Luigi assured him. He struggled to stand on his feet. Mario had to help him stand up. The heroes turned back to Junior. He held the Jeweled Scepter at them. A large ball of dark energy was charged at the top.

"Now...if you don't want to be harmed by my Deathly Dark Ball, I suggest you follow _my _orders!" Junior warned all of them. "In other words, you have to do whatever _I _say!"

The heroes looked at each other. They had no choice. If none of them wanted to get harmed, then they would have to follow Junior's orders. "Okie-dokie then, we'll do whatever you want us to do." Mario said, reluctantly.

Junior laughed, amused to see that even Mario wasn't able to do anything against him. He was under the koopaling's control. "Good! Now! I want all of you to stand in a circle formation! Leave a space for me to stand in the circle."

"Uhm...can I be in the center of the circle instead?" Wario asked. Junior glared at him and shot the Deathly Dark Ball at his feet. Wario jumped into the air and screamed in panic. Junior told him that was simply a warning shot, and that next time he would actually hit him. Wario quickly nodded and did as he was told.

The heroes stood in a circle, leaving space for Junior. The order was as followed, in a clockwise direction: Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario and Luigi. Junior set himself between the Mario Bros, bringing along the Master Emerald with him. The heroes wondered what he was up to.

Junior walked up to the center of the circle and placed the Master Emerald carefully there. He then walked back to his place in the circle formation. "Now...I want all of you to take out your emeralds and raise them up into the air!"

The heroes were surprised Junior knew about each of their emeralds. At first, none of them knew what to do. They didn't have their emeralds with them. Junior shouted at them. "What are you waiting for? Take out your emeralds! They should be in your pockets!"

Mario and Luigi looked at each other. They reluctantly searched through their pockets and surprisingly the emeralds were there. Mario took out his Red Chaos Emerald, while Luigi took out his Blue Chaos Emerald. They both glowed in their hands.

"What the heck! Even you Stupid Mario Bros. have emeralds?" Wario shouted in frustration. He went through his back pockets and took out his Yellow Chaos Emerald. The fat plumber had always kept the emerald for safe keeping ever since he had gotten it from the mysterious shadow figure he had met before in the desert.

"There are more emeralds like mine?" Yoshi asked himself. He went into his pocket, taking out his Green Chaos Emerald. It glowed in his hand. He remembered when Catherine had given the emerald to him back on Daisy's Cruiser. The dinosaur had kept it with him, treasuring it. Yoshi looked at his emerald sadly. "I thought mine was special..."

Donkey Kong searched through his pockets and took out his Silver Chaos Emerald. He was surprised, as he thought he left the emerald back at his treehouse in Congo Jungle. The emerald began to glow in his hand. The ape scratched his head in confusion and looked at his emerald. "Whoa...I wonder how that got here."

Peach took out her Cyan Chaos Emerald and held it in both her hands. It sparkled in her hands. She admired the beauty of the emerald. At first, she thought that Mario had secretly given it to her as an anonymous gift, but now she realized it was all part of Junior's evil plans. She turned to the koopaling. "What do you plan to do with our emeralds?"

Junior looked at her for a moment, then took out his Purple Chaos Emerald. The heroes were shocked that Junior also held his own emerald. Unlike the others though, Junior's Chaos Emerald didn't glow in his hands. He whispered to himself. "I plan...for ultimate power."

Luigi looked to the emeralds that everyone held in their hand. He noticed that there were seven of these emeralds. He then remembered something that Sonic and Tails explained to them earlier in their adventures.

_"A Chaos Emerald is a jewel that contains unlimited power. It's able to unleash it's power to anyone who possesses it."_

_"If someone collects all of the seven Chaos Emeralds, then they can transform into their super form! They'll be super strong, super quick and invincible!"_

"Mario!" Luigi called out to his brother. He had figured out what was Junior's plan. "These jewels in our hands are the Chaos Emeralds! Junior is going to use them and try to obtain unlimited super power!"

Junior pointed the Jeweled Scepter at Luigi. He gave the plumber angry look. He pointed the Jeweled Scepter at him and shot a Deathly Dark Ball at Luigi. It hit the plumber, causing him to scream in pain. He suddenly fell onto the ground, still holding the glowing Blue Chaos Emerald in his hand. Luigi was knocked unconscious.

"LUIGI!" Mario called to him. He was about to run up to him when Junior quickly pointed the Jeweled Scepter at him. He warned him that if he went up to his brother, he would use the energy of the scepter to destroy him. Mario reluctantly gave in. He hated how he wasn't able to do anything.

Junior closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was nervous on what he was about to do. The shadow figure wasn't there to help him, but if Junior wouldn't do it, no one could finish their plan for ultimate negative energy. Junior pointed the Jeweled Scepter into the air and cast a transportation spell. He began to chant a spell the shadow figure had taught him.

_"A world where darkness lies in every corner. A world where only vicious beings and evil forces exist. Lead us into a world cloaked in destruction and despair. Open up the door to the Negative Dimension!"_

At first, Junior expected a portal to appear above them. But unfortunately, nothing happened. Frustratedm Junior threw his Purple Chaos Emerald onto the ground. "Grrrr...I can't believe it! It didn't work! The shadow figure was wrong! We all wasted our time for nothng!"

Mario heard Junior mention the shadow figure. He quickly thought about Metal Sonic. "Wait a minute...you were in alliance with the shadow figure all this time?" Junior nodded to him. Mario couldn't believe it. He changed the subject. "What were you even planning to do with the Chaos Emeralds anyway?"

Junior explained the plans he and the shadow figure made to the heroes. He told them how they were going to use the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds and the negative energy of the seven Star Children to open a portal to the Negative Dimension. They would have harnessed all the power there and used it to take over the world. But since the ritual didn't work, it was now all wasted efforts to Junior.

"Anyways! That doesn't matter anymore!" Junior cried out. He pointed the Jeweled Scepter towards Mario and charged a Deathly Dark Ball at him. "I only did this so I could please my papa! But since I don't know where where he is anymore, it's pointless to even try!"

Mario remembered the last time he saw Bowser. He and Sonic abandoned him when he was still unconscious in his shell back at an unknown forest. "Wait! Junior! I think I know where your papa is! Please, let me try to show you where he is!"

Unfortunately, Junior didn't listen. He quickly shot the Deathly Dark Ball spell at Mario. It hit the plumber, causing him to scream in agony. He dropped onto the ground, still holding his Chaos Emerald. Peach cried out to him, while Yoshi and Donkey Kong could only watch in horror. On the other hand, Wario chuckled at how Mario had shouted so loudly.

Both of the Mario Bros. were unconscious. There was no one to stop Junior now. He suddenly pointed the Jeweled Scepter to the other heroes. "I don't need you anymore! So I might as well get rid of you!" He was about to shoot more Deathly Dark Ball spells at them, when something completely unexpected happened.

A huge portal of white light suddenly appeared above them without warning. Everyone looked up and was shocked to see the portal. They wondered how it could appear like that.

Junior looked at the Jeweled Scepter in his hand and remembered the transportation spell he had cast earlier. He had forgotten to cancel the spell, so the portal appeared right when it was supposed to. Junior simply miscalculated the time. The portal was made up of white light because for it to become a "Negative Dimension" portal, the negative energy of both the seven Chaos Emeralds and Star Children were required to change it. But since the ritual for that to happen didn't work, the portal was simply a regular portal.

The white light portal's force began to suck everyone and everything into it. They all tried to fight from the force, but realized that the pull was getting stronger. The first thing that was sucked in was the Master Emerald. When the jeweled entered it, the portal gave off a flash of bright light.

The heroes dropped their Chaos Emeralds, causing the Yellow, Green, Silver, Cyan and Purple Chaos Emeralds to be sucked in. The Red and Blue Chaos Emeralds were still in the hands of the Mario Bros. But because they were unconscious, they had no way of fighting against the portal's pull. Mario and Luigi were quickly pulled into the light portal, along with their Chaos Emeralds.

"MARIO! LUIGI!" Peach shouted for them. She, along with everyone else, was holding onto the ground to avoid being sucked into the portal. She reached her hand out to the portal, causing her to lose grip from the ground and fly into the portal. She gave out a distressed scream as she was sucked in.

"Oh no! The princess!" Yoshi shouted. He suddenly shot his tongue into the portal, hoping he would be able to grab her. The dinosaur realized his mistake. The portal sucked his tongue and the rest of his body inside. Yoshi yelped for help.

Donkey Kong was not going to let himself get sucked in. He used all his strength to hold onto the ground and avoid being eaten by the swirling portal. "I'm not going to lose! I _won't_ let this portal eat me up!" Suddenly, Donkey Kong began to slide across the ground, getting closer to the portal. "NOO!" He suddenly lost his grip and was lifted into the air. He swung his arms, trying to grab onto the ground again, but was sucked in before he could do so.

"NOOO! PLEASSE! I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Wario cried for help. "I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO IN MY LIFE! I HAVE SO MUCH TO SEE!" He stared up at the portal, seeing no signs of it dying out. "I can't believe my life has to end like this. Being sucked into a large portal thingy!" Wario lost grip of the ground and was sucked into the portal.

Junior was the only one left hanging on for his dear life. He held the Jeweled Scepter in his hands and the ground with the other. He closed his eyes. "I guess this is it..." Junior admitted defeat to the portal. He was going to let it suck him in.

The pull of the portal caused him to let go of the Jeweled Scepter. The artifact was sucked in, causing another flash of light to emit from the portal. Junior knew he was next. He took a deep breath and waited for the portal to suck him in.

_I never got to even say goodbye to my papa..._

Junior lost his grip from the ground. He screamed as he was sucked into the light portal. The portal had eaten it's last victim. It slowly died down and disappeared from the night sky.

The Mushroom Plains was left in an eerie silence, appearing as if nothing had ever happened. Who knew where the portal had transported everyone. Surely, they would find out soon enough.

_._

_.._

_..._

_Next time... A new beginning!_

* * *

_**The Mario Bros, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario and Bowser Jr. are gone! Along with the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald and the Jeweled Scepter! Where could the portal have taken them? Tune in next time for the new beginning of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

_**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Whoa! Who knew something tragic would suddenly happen and flip things around! When we thought everything was going to be okay for the heroes, now ANOTHER portal sucks in Mario and friends. Where will they end up? What will happen to them? Will they ever be seen in the Mushroom Kingdom ever again?**_

_**This is the first chapter not to involve ANY of the Sonic characters. Why? Well OBVIOUSLY they are safe and sound back in their world! Of course, the opposite just has to happen to Mario and his friends. **_

_**Wanting to know what will happen to their well-being isn't the only question we have up in the air. A few of you remembered about Eggman. The last time we saw him, he was trapped inside his doomsday machine which slowly began to melt away inside Bowser's Volcano! Speaking of Bowser, what has happened to him? He has nothing left! You think he'd just give up? That wouldn't be a kingly thing to do.**_

_**Hmm...since the Mario Bros. are gone, wouldn't that be a very GOOD opportunity to takeover the Mushroom Kingdom? Just a thought. ;)**_

_**Well, who knew this story would be able to reach an epic telling of 46 chapters! So much hard work and dedication have been put into this story. Man, I remember it like it was yesterday when I posted the first chapter of this story. It didn't have the "briliant" quality compared to my recent chapters, but it was a start. Now I've taken this story-telling seriously and have made an astounding story that has entertained readers for over a year! **_

_**Now...Is this the end of the epic telling of Mario and Sonic? **_

_**No...not yet...there's so much more story I have waiting to tell you. We are only HALF finished this story. **__**Will that mean there will be a sequel to this story? **_

_**No. I don't think the upcoming adventures that will be told soon don't count as their own separate adventures, but serve as a continuation to this ongoing story. That means the rest of the 54 CHAPTERS I've planned will be posted next year. That means I have more than a year's worth of story-telling for you guys! If all goes well, this story will officially END near the beginning of 2013. (if 2012 doesn't happen)**_

_**Why do I choose to do put the rest of the chapters in the same story instead of making them a sequel? All these adventures have one thing in common that will build up to something epic. The evil force that is much bigger than Bowser and Eggman. Let me say one thing, the heroes haven't encountered it yet. But they will eventually.**_

_**This story will be continued at the beginning of next year, in 2012. The next chapter, the next beginning, will be posted on Saturday, January 7th, the regular time as usual. (it's usually around 5:00 PM Central time for me, so figure out your time for yourself.)**_

_**Thank you for reading this story. Thank you to EVERYONE who has supported me all this time. This story would not be here without you guys. You are the flame that keeps this story's candle lit up. Without you, this story would have burned away into nothing more but just ashes of words.**_

_**Because of you, it's now more than just words. It's now an adventure.**_

**_I'd like to say in advance to everyone to have a safe and happy holiday! And have a cheerful and wonderful New Year! This story will be put to rest for now, but you can be assured it will return. Make sure when the story returns, you return as well! :D_**

**_Oh, and don't worry, I'll still be popping in and out of the site from time to time during the break!_**

**_Bye for now! It's time to take a well-deserved break! :)_**

_************__****__********__****__**-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.**_ They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	47. Return to Another World!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**-The Sonic World Saga-**

_**Chapter 47: Return to Another World!**_

* * *

**_Westside Island, Emerald Beach _**

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon on the coast of Emerald Beach. The sun was shining down on the soft sand. There were tall palm trees that swayed gently in the calm ocean breeze. The beach itself was right next to a large, populated town called Emerald Town, which was sitting on the lush, verdant cliffs near the beach itself.

At the moment, a familiar, blue hedgehog was relaxing on the Emerald Beach. He sat lazily on a white beach chair, basking in the bright sunlight. A pair of silver sunglasses with green lenses covered the hedgehog's sleepy eyes.

"As much as I like running, it's nice to lay back and relax once in a while." Sonic said as he yawned. He smiled. Ever since he and his friends returned to their world two weeks ago, they spent all their time taking it easy. They had no worries in their lives, due to the fact Eggman wasn't there to cause trouble for them.

The last time Sonic had seen the doctor was in another world. A world he and his friends dearly missed. They had gone through many adventures in the other world and they shared those adventures with unforgettable friends. The hedgehog frowned when he thought about the friends he left back in the other world.

_I wonder what they are doing right now._ Sonic thought to himself. He hoped they were doing fine now that everything was back to normal for both their worlds. Sonic rolled onto his side and was about to take a nap when suddenly someone walked up to him.

"Sonic!" the voice said to him. Sonic looked up to see Amy Rose staring back down to him. Surprised by her sudden appearance, Sonic shouted in panic and rolled off his beach chair, landing face first into the sand. Amy gasped. "Sonic! Are you alright?"

"Ugh...I'm fine." Sonic said as he got up and coughed out sand. He dusted more sand off him and readjusted his sunglasses onto his head. He turned to Amy, who was delighted to see him. "Amy, what are you doing here?"

"I was bored at my house, so I went to see if you were hanging out with Tails. He told me you were at the beach, so I ran all the way here to see you!" Amy explained. She walked up to Sonic, givng him a a heartwarming smile. "So I was wondering...do you want to go grab a chili dog with me and hang out for a while?"

Sonic slowly stepped away from her, giving her a nervous grin. Seeing her smile made him feel a little shy around her. He didn't like the feeling, but at the same time it made his heart feel warm. "Uhm...thanks for the offer, but..uh...I just remembered I gotta do something! Sorry Ames!" He quickly waved bye to her and sped off into Emerald Town.

"Ugh! I can't believe he did that again!" Amy shouted in frustration. She crossed her arms and sat in Sonic's beach chair. She began to wonder why Sonic suddenly always ran away from her. It happened ever since they returned to their world. Amy was confused to this as while they were in the other world, Sonic seemed more open to her. And now he wasn't!

_Could it have been something to do with what happened between us before we left the other world?_ Amy thought. She remembered the last meaningful conversation she held with Sonic in the other world. It was right before they returned to theirs. Sonic showed that he really did care about her, but right after he suddenly backed away from Amy.

"I wish I knew why." Amy whispered to herself. She yearned to know why Sonic was like this, so they could work things out and everything could be back to the way they used to be. Like in the other world. She wanted to see the caring smile Sonic gave to her. She wanted Sonic to embrace her in his arms again like they did before. She wanted to hear Sonic say she was special to him again.

Amy decided she needed to relax for a bit to take the stress off her. She closed her eyes and began to take a nap on the beach, listening to the soothing sound of the calm waves.

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails's House**_

It was a peaceful afternoon inside Emerald Town. Aside from the beach, there were huge, lush meadows and big hills surrounding the town. There were many large, colorful houses that filled the area. Trees of different shades of green leaves were planted around the streets. There were parks and fountains scattered around the town. The grass inside the town was strangely in a checkerboard pattern, similar to those of Green Hill Zone. The citizens inside the town were minding their own business at the moment.

Near the edge of the town that faced Emerald Beach, was the house of Tails. It doubled as the fox's home and his laboratory. The house was large and was made up of silver metallic steel. It had a huge antennae perched on the rooftop. The logo of two yellow tails was painted on the sides of the workshop, signalling that it was Tails property. There were two floors of the house. The first floor was where the laboratory was located, where Tails worked on his inventions. The second floor was where the bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen were located.

At the moment, Tails was down in his laboratory. He was working diligently on trying to hack into the programming of a certain robot doppelganger. After Sonic and his friends were able to defeat Metal Sonic in the other world, the robot quickly activated his "Standby mode" in order to prevent himself from sustaining any more damage. Unfortunately, Metal Sonic's plan didn't go exactly as he hoped for and was instead brought into Tails' Workshop where the fox would try and hack into Metal Sonic and reprogram him into being good.

"Gee, this is harder than I thought." Tails said to himself. Right now, he was tinkering in the back of Metal Sonic's circuitry using his tools. The robot was laid across a steel table in the middle of the laboratory room. There were lights hanging on the ceiling, allowing the fox to gain a better look into the robot's circuitry. Tails had spent hours trying to hack into the programming, but it was much more complicated than the fox had hoped for. Tails sighed. He wondered if he was ever going to finish the task.

Suddenly, a knock was heard on the front door. Tails rushed to it and opened the door, finding Sonic there leaning on the front door panel with his sunglasses perched on his forehead. He gave the fox a friendly grin. "Hey buddy! Just wanted to check on things."

"Hey Sonic." Tails greeted him as the blue hedgehog walked in. Sonic quickly asked him how the progress was with hacking into Metal Sonic's programming. Tails shook his head in disappointment. "I've gotten nowhere with this. It's like Eggman made Metal Sonic unhackable. Even I can't find a way to hack into the programming. Sorry Sonic."

"Well, that's a shame. Atleast you tried pal." Sonic said as he patted Tails back. The fox appreciated the support. Sonic walked up to the table where Metal Sonic laid. He carefully lifted up the head, seeing the glowing green eyes turned on, signalling Metal Sonic was still in Standby Mode. "How long do you think it will be until Metal Sonic reactivates?"

"I'm not sure." Tails answered. He began to walk up to a large, cylinder glass case near the corner of the laboratory room. "Just in case Metal Sonic does reactivate before we're able to reprogram him, I made this so he won't be able to harm anyone." Tails explained the case was made up of indestructible glass. Nothing would ever have the power to break through it.

"Good thinking." Sonic complimented as he stared at the glass case. "Now why don't we throw him in there right now? Besides, you could use a break from all this hacking and stuff. I'll even buy us a few chili dogs to snack on. You in?"

"Sure. I was getting kinda hungry." Tails walked up to the table with Metal Sonic. He and Sonic grabbed onto both sides of the robot and began to carry him towards the glass case. They carefully placed the robot onto a steel podium inside the case and closed it. "Alright, that shoyld do it. Now we-"

RIIIIING! RIIIIING!

"Seems like someone's calling you." Sonic said, hearing the phone ringing from upstairs. "I think you oughta pick that up." Tails nodded. He quickly rushed upstairs to his bedroom where the phone was located. Sonic stared up at Metal Sonic inside the glass case. He took a few moments to remember about the destruction and trouble it caused for Sonic and his friends back in the other world. Sonic chuckled a little.

"Who knew that sending me to another world was the best idea you came up with," Sonic began to talking to the deactivated Metal Sonic. "if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gone through amazing adventures and have met amazing friends."

"Uhm...Sonic?" Tails spoke out. Sonic jerked in surprise and slowly turned to the fox, who seemed to have heard his whole conversation. "Were you just talking to the robot who can't hear you...again?"

"Ehh..." Sonic grinned and shrugged in embarrassment. "Can we not talk about this now?"

Tails rolled his eyes and smiled. "Don't worry. I won't mention it to anyone." His mood suddenly turned serious. "Right now though, we have bigger things to worry about." He explained to Sonic that he received a call from Cream. She told him that it was a huge emergency and they really needed their help.

"A huge emergency? Sounds serious." Sonic repeated. He took off his sunglasses and stuffed them into his pocket. "They must really need our help. Come on, we should go check on them."

"I'm right behind you!" Tails assured Sonic. The two quickly rushed out the door of Tails's House and headed their way to Cream's house. They hoped to reach their destination before anything else bad happened to their friends.

The laboratory was left in silence. The only thing that broke the silence was the gradual quiet humming of Metal Sonic's glowing green eyes. Unexpectedly, the eyes suddenly flashed off, leaving Metal Sonic's empty eyelids lifeless. All of a sudden, his eyes flashed open again, only this time, they were glowing red.

* * *

_**Angel**** Island, Master Emerald Altar**_

It was calm and peaceful on the land of Angel Island. The island itself floated through the clear skies, overlooking the oceans below. There were vast tropical jungles, high-rising mountains, ancient ruins and even a festive carnival-themed park on Angel Island. It was a memorable landmark during Sonic's previous adventures.

At the moment, a lone echidna was minding his own business. He stood on top of an altar that belonged to the ancient society of his own people. The altar was located near the centre of the island. It stood near the cliffs of the mountains, surrounded by the lush forest. There was a long flight of stairs leading up to the top. Broken down pillars and ruins surrounded the altar, showing the old age of the place.

_I have to stay here and protect the Master Emerald._ Knuckles thought to himself. He was situated in front of the Master Emerald which was placed in it's shrine. It glowed brightly as it slowly rotated in place. It's safety and protection was under the responsibility of Knuckles. For his whole life he was dedicated to keep the Master Emerald from harm's way. It was the source of power that kept Angel Island afloat in the sky.

Both Knuckles and the Master Emerald had just returned from an adventure in another world. With the help of not only Sonic and his friends, but the friends he made in the other world, Knuckles was able to retrieve the stolen Master Emerald, along with another stolen artifact. Both were returned safely to their respective places and now everything was back to normal.

Knuckles sighed in boredom. Even though he was dedicated to the Master Emerald, it was awfully boring for him to simply stand there. He sort of missed the action and adventure that happened when he had to go and find it. _It's my duty though, as the Guardian of the Master Emerald, to watch over it with my life. _

He turned back to the Master Emerald. It still shone brightly as ever from the unlimited chaos energy it had. Knuckles walked up to the emerald and carefully patted it. "Gee, I wonder how this island would hold up without this giant jewel."

Suddenly, the worst possible thing happened for Knuckles. The Master Emerald's glow disappeared. At first, Knuckles was surprised, but this grew into shock as a huge crack split right in the middle of the jewel. Unexpectedly, the Master Emerald exploded into a million pieces, causing Knuckles to fly back and stumble down the altar's stairs.

"What in the world!" Knuckles shouted in shock. He quickly got up and ran back up to the top of the altar. He looked across the floor, seeing pieces of the Master Emerald scattered. Before he had time to pick them up, the pieces crumbled into dust and was swept away in the calm breeze.

"Oh no! This isn't good!" Knuckles said in a panicked tone. "Without the Master Emerald this island will fall!" Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise was heard throughout the island. The ground under Knuckles's feet began to shake. The echidna's words began to become reality. Angel Island started to fall towards the ocean.

Knuckles fought the force of the island rapidly falling into the ocean. He held tightly onto the floor of the altar. This wasn't the first time Angel Island fell from the sky. As the island got closer to the ocean, the faster it began to fall. In a matter of seconds, Angel Island crashed into the ocean, causing huge waves to disperse from where the island landed.

"Well, there goes another _safe_ landing." Knuckles spoke to himself. He looked back to where the Master Emerald had suddenly "exploded". He scratched his head in confusion. "How the heck did that happen anyway?" The echidna was bewildered. Not once had the Master Emerald broke apart like that. He quickly realized he had to fix the Master Emerald yet again.

"Grrr...just what I needed! There's always one problem after the other! I just got the dang emerald back anyway and now it decides to blow up into smithereens? Argh!" Knuckles punched inti the ground in frustration. After arguing to himself for a few minutes, he slowly calmed down and began to think. How was he going to restore the Master Emerald? Unlike the last few times it broke, this time it was in small pieces of dust!

"I'm going to need some help with this one." Knuckles said. He quickly ran down the altar stairs and began to trek through the jungle of Angel Island. He intended to get help from a certain blue hedgehog. He was the only one Knuckles was sure of that would lend a helping hand.

* * *

**_Westside Island, Cream's House_**

It took Sonic and Tails only a few minutes to speed their way to the home of Cream. Her house was not too far away from Emerald Town. It was located near the hills on the edge of the coast, which allowed the occupants there to have a wonderful view of the ocean horizon.

"Here we are!" Sonic said as he skidded to a stop in front of the house. He looked up it.

The house was fairly big. Outside, you could identify it had two floors to it. The walls were painted white, while the roof was orange. There was a picket fence around the house. Inside it was a garden full of different colored flowers. There were also numerous trees surrounding the house. / Sonic crossed his arms. He looked around the area, not seeing any danger.

"There doesn't seem to be any emergency here." Sonic looked to his fox friend, who just happened to catch up to the hedgehog. "Are you sure Cream told you there was an emergency?"

"I'm positive." Tails assured him as he nodded. He began to think back to the phone call he received back at the his home. "She did sound a little worried. But who knows, she may have been exaggerating."

"Mr. Sonic!" a voice shouted. Sonic and Tails turned their heads towards the house entrance, seeing a familiar orange rabbit running up to them. It was none other than Cream. Floating behind her was her pet Chao, Cheese. He wore his red bowtie, as always. Both of them ran up to Sonic and Tails. Cream took a moment to catch her breath. "I'm so glad the two of you are here. Please, you have to come inside."

"What's the emergency, Cream?" Sonic asked her. Cream explained to him that while she and her mother were strolling along the beach, a huge, red comet landed right in front of them. The comet had left a person. The person was unconscious, so Vanilla decided to bring the body back to their house so they could heal the person.

"Is the person still unconscious?" Tails asked as the three headed towards Cream's house. The rabbit shook her head. She explained in a relieved voice that they were able to heal the person back into consciousness. Right now, the person was resting in her bedroom.

Just as they reached the doorway, somebody opened the door for them. Sonic was greatly surprised when he saw Amy staring back at him. "What the-Amy what are you doing here?"

"Well, after you rudely left me back at the beach, I had to find somewhere else to hang out."Amy explained. Sonic could see she was still mad at him, hearing the anger in her voice. He tried to apologize, but she only ignored him. "That isn't important right now. Your biggest concern should be about the person that Cream and Vanilla found."

"You've already seen them?" Tails quickly asked her. Amy nodded. She suddenly had a worried look on her face. She quickly motioned them all to come inside. She led them upstairs to Cream's bedroom.

"You won't believe who it is." Amy told both Sonic and Tails. She opened the door to the bedroom. Inside was Vanilla, who was currently nursing the injured person. Sonic and Tails slowly approached the bed, getting a closer look at the person. Their eyes slowly widened in shock as they began to realize who the person was.

"No way..." Sonic gasped. "Mario?"

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**What? Mario? In Sonic's world! But how? And what will Knuckles do, now that Angel Island has fallen once again? How about Metal Sonic's eyes? Could that mean something? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! First off, I'd like to say, welcome back to the story! I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break! Alright, greetings over. Let's move on to the author notes.**

**This chapter catches up with Sonic and his friends. It seems like they've been taking it easy for the past two weeks, just like we've all been. Ironic, hmm? But all that goes away when Cream calls them for an emergency. Hooray! A new Sonic character in the mix. You'll be seeing her more in the story now.**

**In this story, Emerald Town is the hometown to Sonic and the rest of his friends. Well, most of them at least. I remembering it saying that in Sonic Battle, the game where the level came from. For me, Emerald Town resides on Westside Island, the place where Sonic the Hedgehog 2 happens. **

**Why is it like this? Emerald Hill Zone is located on Westside Island, and since both Emerald Hill and Emerald Town both have "Emerald" in their name, I decided to put Emerald Town on Westside Island, just to make things simpler. **

**Problem with that? Deal with it. It took me a long time to research all this. And I'm proud of what I've came up with.**

**The description for Angel Island is supposed to be a throwback to the zones in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. And you see what zones I;ve referred to? If you're a true Sonic fan, you should know! :D**

**And onto the plot twist. Ohmygosh! Mario is in Sonic's world! :O I did NOT see that happening! But how could have this all happened? Could the ritual in the last chapter have something to do with it? We'll find out soon.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Thanks to everyone who has supported me. You guys rock! Remember to check my profile for any updates and such. If you have any questions, don't be shy to ask! They will be answered in the next chapter I post! And if you like this story, make sure to read some of my other stories! **

**Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Cheers to a New Year! And a new beginning of epic adventures! Bye for now! :D**

**P.S. You may have noticed the extra title I've added in the beginning of this chapter. I've done the same thing to the very first chapter. Check it out!**

**-Azurixx-**

**************__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	48. Unexpected Visitors!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 48: Unexpected Visitors!_**

* * *

**_Westside Island, Cream's House_**

"No way..." Sonic gasped. He was shocked to see the familiar face of a friend he thought he had left in another world. He continued to stare down at them in Cream's bed. Sonic recognized the plumber's overalls, red cap and very fine moustache. Sonic spoke out the person's name. "Mario?

"Ugh...mama?" Mario groaned. He slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry for a moment, but they quickly focused. He looked around the room, surprised to see Sonic and his friends staring back at him. "Huh! Mamamia! Sonic! Is that really you?"

"The one and only!" Sonic said, grinning back to the plumber. He walked up to the side of the bed. He and the others were delighted to see Mario again! But at the same time, they wondered how he got into their world. "Mario, how in the world did you get into our world?"

Mario gave a surprised look. "Wait, hold on for a minute. Your world? I'm-a not in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore?"

"Nope." Tails answered, shaking his head. "You're definitely in our world. The question is, how were you able to get here?"

Mario was confused. How was he suddenly in Sonic's world? He took a few moments to remember what had previously happened to him. "I remember I was with my brother, Luigi. And Yoshi! I was also with Princess Peach and Donkey Kong. I think Wario was with us too. Also..." His eyes widened in horror. "Junior was there with us..."

"Junior?" Amy repeated. She thought back to their adventures in Mario's world, trying to remember the name. "That name doesn't ring a bell for me. I don't remember facing someone called Junior."

"I sort of remember that name." Tails said. He recalled the first time he stepped into Mario's world. It was the first time he had met Yoshi. It was also the time when Eggman attacked them with one of Bowser's airships. Tails remembered that Junior was the one who was steering the ship.

"Hey, I remember now!" Sonic said. He chuckled, remembering the funny face Eggman gave when Luigi used his hammer to redirect the Banzai Bill they shot at the heroes, causing it to explode the airship and send both Eggman and Junior flying. Sonic turned to Mario. "What does Junior have to do with you being in our world?"

Mario took a few more moments to remember. "I remembered that he kidnapped me and my friends. He wanted to use us in this sort of ritual. To open up this portal to this place called the "Negative Dimension"." Mario quickly remembered the objects Junior used to command the ritual. "Mamamia! Junior used the Jeweled Scepter and the Master Emerald for the ritual!"

"Huh? That can't be right..." Tails said, giving Mario a confused look. "We got back both the Jeweled Scepter and the Master Emerald from Metal Sonic. We even returned them both to where they belonged. How was Junior able to grab hold of them?"

"You don't understand!" Mario tried to explain. "You see, all this time Junior was in a secret alliance with Metal Sonic! They created fake copies of the artifacts to fool you guys. All along, Junior had the real artifacts."

"Hmph! Pretty smart of them." Sonic said, crossing his arms. "Is there anything else that they planned?"

"They both wanted to gain ultimate dark energy from the "Negative Dimension." Mario remembered what Junior told to him about his plan. "But for them to do that, they needed the energy of both the seven Star Children and the seven Chaos Emeralds."

"WHAT!" Sonic shouted in surprise. "Are you telling me that Metal Sonic and Junior also had hold of the seven Chaos Emeralds all this time?" Mario nodded. Sonic couldn't believe it. He was dumbfounded to think the Chaos Emeralds were in Mario's world the whole time Sonic and his friends were there. And they had no clue they were there in the first place.

"That still doesn't explain how you were able to come into our world." Tails reminded Mario. "Was Junior successful into making the portal to this Negative Dimension?"

"No..." Mario answered. "After he did the ritual, nothing happened. Junior suddenly went into this temper tantrum and started to attack us." Mario remembered how Junior shot a dark magic spell on him, blanking him out. "That's all I remember."

"This doesn't make any sense." Sonic said as he thought over to what Mario explained to them. "So let me get this straight, Junior kidnapped you, Luigi, Yoshi, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong and that Wario guy in order to open a portal to the Negative Dimension. He also needed the Jeweled Scepter, the Master Emerald and all seven Chaos Emeralds to do so. But since the ritual didn't work...you ended up here? In our world?"

Mario shrugged. He was oblivious as much as Sonic and his friends to how he was able to appear in Sonic's world. "I guess you could say that."

"So...what about your friends?" Tails asked Mario. "Are they also in our world as well? Or are they still in your world?"

Mario thought for a moment. "I don't know! Mamamia! I just hope they are okay!" He suddenly became overwhelmed. What if his friends did go into Sonic's world like he did? They could be anywhere right now! Mario lifted the pillow from under his head and stuffed it over his face. He didn't feel like talking right now.

"I think we need some time to think over this." Sonic said to the others. "Cream. Vanilla. Keep an eye on Mario and make sure he gets better. Me and Tails will go back to his lab and try to sort things out."

"Hey! What about me!" Amy complained to Sonic, who seemed to forgot about her. Sonic shrugged, telling her they didn't need her for the moment. "Hmph! Well too bad! I'm coming with you two, whether you like it or not."

"Ugh...Amy..." Sonic groaned as he rolled his eyes. Before he could say anything, Amy had already walked out of the bedroom. Sonic turned to Tails, who simply shrugged back to the hedgehog. Sonic and Tails said goodbye to Cream and Vanilla. They began their trek back to Emerald Town, along with Amy.

"Is there anything you need from us, Mario?" Vanilla asked the plumber. Mario lifted the pillow off his head and simply shook it. "Well, if there is, don't be shy to call out for us." She walked out of the bedroom and resumed with her chores, leaving Cream, Cheese and Mario in the bedroom.

"So how is it like in your world, Mr. Mario?" Cream asked him. "Is it any different from ours?" At first, Mario was going to ask her to politely leave him alone, but he saw the curious and innocent look in her eyes. He smiled to her.

"Well, do you have pipes that allow man-eating plants to pop out and snap at any who comes close to it?" Mario asked her, mimicking the Piranha Plants mouth snapping with his hands. Cream shook her head. "You'll find a lot of those in my world. Especially out in the plains."

"That sounds really scary." Cream said, shuddering at the thought. "Is there anything else in your world that isn't frightening as those plant creatures?"

Mario thought for a moment. "There is this town in the Mushroom Kingdom. It is called Toad Town. There are these mushroom-like people who all live there in peace and harmony. I have a friend who lives there in a giant castle and rules over the town. I think I've mentioned her a while ago."

"You did," Cream told him. "I think you said her name was Princess Peach." Mario nodded. He was a little amazed the rabbit was able to remember such little details. "You're not the only one who knows a princess. I have a friend who is also a princess, but I haven't seen her for a while. She lives in another dimension."

"Don't worry about that, I'm-a sure you'll see each other again real soon." Mario said, comforting Cream. "I mean, hey, I'm-a from another dimension and I was able to see Sonic and his friends again." The rabbit smiled to him. She started to see Mario as more of a friend than someone that they found washed up on shore.

"You must have really become good friends with Mr. Sonic and the others." Cream said. Mario nodded. He told her how he and his friends grew a strong bond with Sonic and his friends back in Mario's world. Mario told Cream he was also happy he was able to see them again.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese suddenly shouted out. He began to frantically wave his arms in front of himself, as if he wanted to show something to them.

"What is it, Cheese?" Cream asked him. Cheese slowly floated down towards her and took something out of it's pocket. Glowing in his hand, was the Red Chaos Emerald. "Oh my! A Chaos Emerald! Where did you find it?" She listened as Cheese explained that he found it nearby on the beach where Mario was found.

"It must've dropped out of my hand while I was unconscious." Mario assumed. He was glad that atleast the Chaos Emerald was brought along with him. He came up with an idea. "Sonic might be looking for the Chaos Emerald soon. Do you mind if I hold onto it until then, Cream?"

"Are you sure you can handle it, Mr. Mario?" Cream asked him. Mario assured her he could. "Okay then. Make sure you keep it safe. It would be awful if it got into the wrong hands." She took the Red Chaos Emerald from Cheese and handed it to Mario.

"Don't worry! I'll take good care of it." Mario assured her. He took the Red Chaos Emerald from Cream. It began to glow in his hand. Mario remembered the times when Metal Sonic and Junior called him and his friends the "Star Children". Was he really one? How did he not know for all these years? Mario began to think about his friends.

_I hope they are alright. Wherever they are._

* * *

_**Angel Island, Tropical Jungle coast**_

Knuckles was running through the huge tropical jungle area of Angel Island. He swept by coconut palm trees, broke his way through stone boulders and even swung off a few vine ropes that were swinging back and forth in the jungle.

In no time, Knuckles reached the coast of Angel Island. He saw in front of him the beach area and the waves from the ocean calmly sweeping onto the island. A few miles away from the coast was a large mainland. Knuckles recognized the land.

"Hmm...it looks like Angel Island landed near Westside Island. Perfect." Knuckles said. It was most likely that Sonic and the others were there, more specifically in Emerald Town. It had been awhile since Knuckles had seen them. "Hopefully they're up for another adventure. And who knows, maybe some of the Master Emerald dust got whisked away there. It can't hurt to check."

Knuckles decided to take a short break before he would have to glide his way across the ocean and onto Westside Island. He looked to the left of him and saw a small bush of grapes growing nearby a crowd of palm trees. He walked up to it and grabbed a handful, stuffing it all in his mouth. Boy, did Knuckles like fresh picked grapes!

While he enjoyed munching on his grape snack, Knuckles was unaware of the huge, careening comet that was falling towards the island. The comet gave off a light-green color. It sped its way closer to the island. As it reached the island, it started to swerve upwards, almost aiming directly towards Knuckles. He quickly noticed the comet, screamed in horror and ducked onto the ground, causing the comet to barely miss him. The comet crashed into a nearby waterfall pond.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Knuckles shouted. He scrambled onto his feet and rushed up to where the comet crashed into. Knuckles looked down into the waterfall pond. The waterfall itself was huge, but the pond itself was a little shallow. Knuckles stared at the body that came out of the comet for quite some time before recognizing who it was.

"Whoa...is that really...Yoshi?" Knuckles gasped the dinosaur's name. He ran into the waterfall pond and up to the fallen dinosaur. Yoshi was laying on his back in the pond. He seemed to be unconscious.

"Gee, looks like he suffered a rough landing." Knuckles said to himself. He tried to wake the dinosaur up. He shook Yoshi awake, splashed water onto his face and even tried yelling loudly into his ears. Nothing seemed to work. "Hmph...I guess I have no other choice."

Knuckles slowly climbed over Yoshi's body. He blew onto his right fist for good luck. He raised it high into the air and gave out a loud shout. He threw a quick, but powerful punch onto Yoshi's nose, causing him to wake up and scream loudly in pain. The dinosaur screamed so loud that it caused the birds to fly out of the trees.

"OOOOOWWWWW!" Yoshi cried out. He held onto his nose, feeling the bruise Knuckles made. He rubbed it vigorously to ease the pain, then stared up toeards Knuckles, giving him an angry growl. "Hey! What was that for! That really hurt!"

"Hey! Don't blame me! If you weren't such a heavy sleeper, I wouldn't have needed to do that." Knuckles defended himself. He helped Yoshi up, who was still rubbing on his nose. "On the other hand, it's great to finally see you again!"

"Yeah...thanks." Yoshi grumbled. He continued to rub his nose, then suddenly stopped. He realized he was talking to Knuckles, who had just left their world. "Wait...Knuckles? I thought you went back home with Sonic and the others! What are you doing back in the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"What are you talking about? We did leave the Mushroom Kingdom. It's you who's in _my_ world." Knuckles explained to Yoshi. The dinosaur only gave him a confused look.

"Wait a minute...I'm in your world?" Yoshi repeated. Knuckles nodded to him, as if it wasn't a big deal. "B-but how? How did I get in your world?"

"Beats me," Knuckles said. He noticed that Yoshi was starting to rock back and forth. "Hey, are you alright? You look like you could fall down any minute! You should probably sit down."

"Yeah...I think I should..." Yoshi said. The injuries from the abrupt comet landing and the punch made from Knuckles were getting to Yoshi's head. Knuckles helped him out of the waterfall pond and let him sit down onto the soft sand on the beach. Knuckles went into the jungle and found a batch of bananas for Yoshi to snack on, which hopefully made him feel better.

"So tell me...how are you in my world now?" Knuckles asked him. Yoshi had already gulped down a few bananas, trying to remember what happened to him previously. "Well, from what I can remember..." Yoshi began. He explained to Knuckles how Junior kidnapped him and his friends back in their world and used them, the real Jeweled Scepter and Master Emerald, and the seven Chaos Emeralds in a ritual to open up a portal to a place called the "Negative Dimension". As Yoshi told his story, Knuckles eyes grew in bewilderment. He couldn't believe what Yoshi was saying.

"Are you sure you're not making this up?" Knuckles asked him in a serious tone. Yoshi nodded his head. Knuckles stomped on the ground. He couldn't believe that Metal Sonic fooled the heroes into making fake copies of both the Jeweled Scepter and the Master Emerald. He also couldn't believe the seven Chaos Emeralds had been in Mario's world the whole time Knuckles, Sonic, Tails and Amy were there.

"So you're telling that because this whole "Negative Dimension" ritual failed, it created another portal to our world that sucked in you, your friends and the emeralds and scepter?" Yoshi nodded. At first, Knuckles was a little relieved the Master Emerald he had that broke into dust wasn't the real one. But that didn't change the fact that it was still gone somewhere else.

"Great. So now you and your friends, plus the emeralds and scepter are probably scattered around our world!" Knuckles shouted in frustration. He kicked away a nearby pebble in frustration.

"How are you sure that everything got scattered across your world?" Yoshi asked Knuckles as he continued munching on the bananas.

Knuckles pointed to Yoshi. "Well, you came out of a comet by yourself, right? If everything wasn't scattered across the world, you'd crash down in the same place with everything else!" Yoshi thought about Knuckles's theory for a moment. He was right. There was no doubt that the portal scattered everything across Knuckles's world.

"Well, what do we do now?" Yoshi asked.

"We're going to have to go around the world in hopes to finding your friends." Knuckles explained. He sighed. "And at the same time we'll have to go and find the Chaos Emeralds, the Jeweled Scepter AND the Master Emerald." They had to find so much things that it kind of overwhelmed the echidna.

"Gee...that sounds like a lot of work." Yoshi said in a nervous voice. "Are you sure we can do all that?"

"Don't worry about it. We've been doing this all the time in our world." Knuckles said, refering to how he, Sonic, and his friends searched for the Chaos Emeralds in almost ALL of their adventures. "All we need is some extra help." He told Yoshi to quickly get ready. They were going to Westside Island to find Sonic and the others.

_This is going to be a long journey. For all of us._

* * *

**_Westside Island, Emerald Town_**

It was starting to become sunset when Sonic, Tails and Amy returned to Emerald Town. They walked along the sidewalk next to a park with a huge fountain in the middle, on their way to Tail's House. They were still talking about how Mario came into their world and also how the real Jeweled Scepter, Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds were in Mario's world all this time.

"I just don't get it," Tails started. "how was Mario able to enter our world? Something probably happened when he got knocked out by Junior. We just don't know what."

"Well, the good thing is that he is safe." Sonic said. He wondered how Mario was holding up back at Cream's house.

"But what about the others?" Amy reminded them. "They were with Mario when he got transported to our world. What if they were also transported as well?"

"We can't be sure about that." Sonic tried to explain. "If they were transported along with Maro, wouldn't they have landed in the same place along with him?"

"You have to remember how we entered Mario's world, Sonic." Tails reminded Sonic. "Even though we entered through the same portal at almost the exact same time, we were transported at different places at different times."

Sonic thought about what Tails said. He nodded to him. "You have a point. But if Mario's friends were transported into our world with him, then that must mean the real Jeweled Scepter, Master Emerald and the seven Chaos Emeralds were also transported here as well."

"So you're saying they must have also been scattered around our world as well?" Amy said. Sonic nodded to her, causing her to sigh. "Well great, I guess that means we have to search for them once again."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm all in for another adventure!" Sonic exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "It's been way too boring ever since our last adventure."

"And I'll be by your side whenever you need my help!" Tails promised Sonic. The hedgehog appreciated his enthusiasm and gave him a high-five."

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle this one?" Amy asked them. "This time, the lives of others are in your hands."

"Why do you seem to be worrying so much, Ames?" Sonic asked her. "You should know me by now. I can handle anything!" He gave her a thumbs-up and a grin. Amy smiled when he saw Sonic show his determined attitude. She knew Sonic would help anyone, even if it meant to harm his own well-being.

The trio soon reached Tails's House. Oddly, they found the door left wide open.

"That's weird," Tails said, confused. "I was sure I shut the door when we left." The three slowly walked into the house, immediately entering the laboratory. All of a sudden, Tails gasped in horror. "Oh no!" He rushed up to the glass case where Metal Sonic was supposed to be. At that moment, he wasn't. Instead, the was a large hole in the glass. Shards of glass was scattered across the floor.

Sonic noticed what Tails was worrying about. He rushed up beside the fox, seeing the broken glass case. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Tails answered him. "Metal Sonic...is gone!"

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Oh no! Metal Sonic has escaped! Could this mean trouble for the heroes? And it looks like Yoshi has made a landing into Sonic's world. Could the same have happened to the rest of Mario's friends? To find out, tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Hmm, Metal Sonic has escaped? That's bad. I guess Tails shouldn't have relied much on "indestructible" glass to prevent Metal Sonic from fleeing his laboratory. Silly fox. :P**

**Hooray! Yoshi appears in the story! And not in a very comfy way. ****I hope someone realized this, but it's sort of a coincidence that Yoshi lands on an island. This is supposed to be a reference that he lives on an island in his own world. Cool allusion, eh? **

**And now, Knuckles realizes his Master Emerald is fake. And of course, that must mean the Jeweled Scepter is fake! I wonder what happened to the person who guarded that artifact reacted. They must be furious like a _cat _right now. I wonder if they'll be looking for Sonic's help as well *hinthint***

**So it seems that Mario's friends may be scattered across Sonic's world, along with the emeralds and scepter. Could this mean another adventure around the world? idk.**

**Well, I don't have much else to say for this chapter. It's starting to become difficult to come up with witty things to say in these Author Notes. I'm only doing these to entertain people. Meh. Oh well.**

**Oh yes, I want to get an opinion from some of you readers. I'm planning to write another Sonic fanfiction. This may seem out of the blue, but I plan on writing a story about one of the _couples. _I'm no shipper, but I just think my idea will be able to branch out an interesting story for people to read. I knoiw some of you guys will _hate _the idea, but there are other people who my absolutely love it. **

**Which couple do I plan to write about? I'll explain later next month. I just want to know what you guys think about couple stories. You can find out a little more information of this upcoming story on my profile.**

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to everyone who has supported me. You are the best! Remember to come back next week for the next chapter. Check my profile for any updates on my story. And make sure to read my other stories if you like this one! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx-**

**************__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	49. Evil Reawakened!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 49: Evil Reawakened!**_

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails's House**_

Sonic stared at the broken, empty glass case in the laboratory. This was bad news for him and his friends. The body of Metal Sonic inside the case was no more. All that was left was the scattered glass shards that laid across the floor.

"Did Metal Sonic...escape?" Amy asked in a nervous voice. She held her hands together, desperate to know what the others might say.

"He...he couldn't have!" Tails said in a panicked voice. He held both hands to his head, shaking it in disbelief. "The glass is supposed to be indestructible. And Metal Sonic didn't even show signs of reactivating! How could this all go wrong?"

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Tails." Sonic comforted his friend. "Every great genius makes a few errors once in awhile." He took a closer look at the broken glass case. It definitely showed signs of escape, as the glass shards were outside the case. "Where could he have gone to?"

Suddenly, the three heard a loud screeching noise outside. It sounded like the abrupt braking of a car. Sensing trouble, the heroes rushed out of the laboratory and ran to the source of the screech. A few blocks away from them, near the fountain park, were overturned cars that began to pile up near the intersection.

"Oh no! How could this happen?" Amy gasped in horror. The three quickly ran up to the car pile up and began helping to bring the citizens away from the wreckage. All of a sudden, a loud, devilish laugh was heard in the sky.

"Pathetic! All of you are pathetic!" the deep robotic voice began to speak. Sonic and the others looked up to the voice and were shocked to see that Metal Sonic was reactivated once again. He floated above the car pile-up and stared at the heroes with his intimidating, red eyes.

"You!" Sonic pointed at him angrily. "So you've finally woken up from your beauty sleep. How was it?"

"It was indeed fine." Metal Sonic answered him. He made a fist with one of his hands. "I am feeling re-energized and refueled from my emergency Standby mode. I have more than enough energy to finally destroy you, my loathsome copy!"

Metal Sonic's eyes began to glow brighter as he initiated Attack mode. A bright, blue laser beam began to charge up near his stomach. He quickly shot the laser beam towards Sonic. The hedgehog quickly dodged the attack, causing the laser beam to leave a hole in the concrete street.

"Tails! Make sure you and Amy find a safe place to hide! I'll deal with Metal Sonic myself!" Sonic shouted to the fox. Tails nodded and quickly hovered into the air, bringing along Amy with him. Sonic turned back to Metal Sonic and waved his finger at him. "You gotta shoot faster, buddy. I _am_ the fastest thing alive after all!"

"That won't stop me from destroying you!" Metal Sonic suddenly surrounded himself in a large ball of yellow sparks. He was about to do the Ring Spark Field. He floated towards Sonic and began charging up the attack. Sonic fore saw the attack and began to run away from him. Metal Sonic was amused by this. "Run while you can, hedgehog!"

Sonic began running at supersonic speeds throughout the streets of Emerald Town. Metal Sonic began chasing after him. He caught up to Sonic and shot out the Ring Spark Field. It spread throughout the general area around Metal Sonic. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough to catch Sonic as he quickly accelerated forward, out of the attack's range.

"Still not fast enough!" Sonic taunted as he quickly made a U-turn and shot a Homing Attack towards Metal Sonic. It hit the robot, causing him to fly back and crash into the streets. The robot quickly floated back into the air, shaking off attack.

"Give up!" Metal Sonic scowled. He surrounded himself again in yellow sparks, but this time he shot himself towards Sonic. The hedgehog swiftly jumped over Metal Sonic and started running throught the streets again. Metal Sonic quickly turned around, still initiating the V. Maximum Overdrive Attack and began to give chase.

The two chased each other throughout the streets of Emerald Town. Sonic swerved around the oncoming traffic, while Metal Sonic carelessly crashed through vehicles and street lamps. Eventually, they came upon a tall business building in Emerald Town. Sonic began to run up the side of the building, while Metal Sonic flew up by it.

"You won't escape from me!" Metal Sonic warned. Sonic looked back and grinned at him. As he reached the top of the building, he jumped upwards off the rooftop and high into the air. As Metal Sonic reached him, he began to feel his power draining from him. He had used too much energy on his V. Maximum Overdrive Attack, causing an emergency shutdown to the attack.

"What! No!" Metal Sonic yelled in panic as the sparks around him disappeared. With no protection around him, this left him open to an attack. Sonic took the opportunity. Still in the air, he dove himself down towards Metal Sonic and delivered a powerful downward kick on Metal Sonic's head. The robot was sent flying down into the streets, crashing into the concrete.

"Alright!" Sonic exclaimed in victory. He quickly realized he began falling towards the ground. He panicked. "Uhoh! Should've thought this part through!" He began to scream and flail his arms around as he began falling towards the street below. Suddenly, something caught him in the air. He gave a sigh of relief. "Nice catch, Tails!"

"Heheh! No problem, Sonic!" Tails responded. He slowly hovered them both onto the ground. Amy was watching them, along with a small crowd of people. She ran up to the both of them and quickly hugged Sonic.

"Oh, Sonic! I'm so glad you're alright!" Amy said, continuing to hug him. Sonic simply rolled his eyes

"Sonic! Look!" Tails said as he pointed to the fallen Metal Sonic. The robot was slowly getting up from where he landed. Small sparks were electrocuting around him. Metal Sonic had sustained serious damage, but he wasn't about to give up just yet. He gave an intimidating look to Sonic. "You may be the fastest thing alive, but that certainly doesn't mean you can't _die!" _

Suddenly, a small, red energy orb appeared in Metal Sonic's stomach. The robot suddenly crossed his hands in front of him and shot them forward, releasing a large, powerful red energy blast around him. The blast caused everything around him to fly back from the force, including vehicles, stop signs and street lamps. Unfortunately, Sonic, Tails and Amy were caught in the blast, knocking them back into the concrete streets.

"It seems this attack works quite well, even if it has been awhile since I've copied _his _lifeform data." Metal Sonic said, impressed by the Chaos Blast attack. He walked up to the fallen heroes, who were seriously injured from the attack. Metal Sonic laughed at them. He quickly charged a laser attack on Sonic.

"Sonic!" somebody shouted in the distance. The heroes looked up to a building, seeing a figure standing on the rooftop. The figure was none other than Mario. In his hand, he held the Red Chaos Emerald. He quickly threw it towards the heroes. "Catch!"

The Red Chaos Emerald flew through the air. Sonic quickly raised his hand and caught the emerald. He stared at it for a moment, surprised to see the emerald in his world when he thought it was still in Mario's world. He looked back to Mario and grinned. "Thanks!"

"What! The Chaos Emerald? But if it's here, then that must mean-" Metal Sonic looked up to Mario, who was still on the building. "The Star Child is also here! The koopaling must have done the ritual! But why did it bring them to this world instead of the Negative Dimension?" Metal Sonic was too shocked from what was happening that he let his guard down, stopping the laser beam attack.

"It's time to finish this!" Sonic exclaimed. He quickly got up and began to harness the energy of the Red Chaos Emerald, preparing to deliver one final blow to Metal Sonic. Suddenly, something strange happened. Sonic felt a familiar power coming back into his body. The chaos energy was beginning to transform his body. His body was suddenly surrounded in white light and his body began to flash in different colors.

Sonic was now Rainbow Sonic!

"Huh! What the?" Sonic said, confused. He looked at his body. There was no doubt he returned to his Rainbow form he'd received from Mario's world. Tails, Amy and Mario stared in surprise. How was he able to regain his power-up?

"Might as well take this opportunity!" Sonic shrugged to himself. He quickly charged a Rainbow Spin-Dash attack and shot himself towards Metal Sonic. The attack dug deep into Metal Sonic. The force from it caused him to get knocked back and rocket into the sky. It caused the robot to fly out of Emerald Town and shoot him off Westside Island. Who knew where Metal Sonic would land next.

"That was...amazing!" Tails spoke as he and Amy slowly got up. He looked to Rainbow Sonic. "How were you able to regain your transformation all of sudden?"

"I don't know." Sonic answered. He looked to the Red Chaos Emerald still in his hand. "I gues it must've had something to do with me harnessing the energy of the Chaos Emerald."

Mario had jumped off the building and rushed up towards the heroes. They were all happy to see him and thanked the plumber for coming to their aid. "Hey, it was no problemo!"

"How did you get hold of a Chaos Emerald, Mario?" Amy asked him. Mario explained how Cheese found the emerald near the area where Cream and Vanilla found him. He assumed it was brought along with him when he somehow entered Sonic's world.

"Then that must mean the other Chaos Emeralds were brought back into our world as well." Sonic assumed. "Along with the rest of Mario's friends, and the real Jeweled Scepter and Master Emerald. There's no doubt about it."

"Still, none of this explains how Sonic was able to regain his Rainbow form." Tails said. He thought of an idea. "Hey, what if we go back to my laboratory so I can do some tests on Sonic to see what exactly triggered his transformation."

"Tests? Uhm...that sounds painful, but sure." Sonic said, reluctantly. "And while we're there, we can finally sort things out on what to do to find Mario's friends."

Now that the heroes were somewhat sure that both Mario's friends and the emeralds were in Sonic's world, they needed to figure out a plan to find them. The heroes headed their way back to Tails's House.

* * *

**_Dark Land, Outside Bowser's Volcano_**

It was a gloomy day in Dark Land. Well, it seemed really gloomy for the koopa king himself. After spending a good two weeks searching for his son around the boiling wasteland, he'd finally gave up and decided to spend the rest of his days mourning outside the area where he had lost everything.

"I have absolutely nothing..." Bowser said to himself as he sat near the volcano's rim. He looked across into the volcano, seeing the ruins of his castle. He remembered the epic battle he fought against the heroes. From that battle, the heroes had not only destroyed his castle, but his whole army seemed to have abandoned him. Plus, his newly-created Doomsday machine was sunken into the bottom of the volcano, along with Eggman.

_I swear, when I get my hands on those heroes, I'm going to make them suffer like they've never felt it before!_ Bowser thought to himself. He clenched both his fists in anger, thinking of the cruel actions he'd do to him. But then he thought to himself.

Would torturing his enemies rebuild his castle? Would it bring back his army? And more importantly, would it bring back his son?

"I can't just sit around here and sulk all day." Bowser realized. "I need to take action! I need to empower myself with motivation to get what I want! It's what a true king would do anyway."

Suddenly, Bowser noticed something happening inside the volcano. In the lava, there seemed to be bubbles coming out of the surface. Bowser stared at it for a good few minutes before something shot out of the lava and crashed on the ground near Bowser.

"Great goomba! What the heck is that?" Bowser yelled in surprise. He stared at what popped out of the volcano. It seemed to be some sort of mobile hovercraft. The glass was still covered in lava, preventing him from seeing what was inside. As he neared the hovercraft, the glass opened up, revealing who was inside.

"Finally! I'm free! Hohoho!" Eggman announced as he stumbled out of the Doomsday machine's ejected cockpit. He looked around him, noticing Bowser staring at him with a look of shock. "What's with the look on your face? It's like you've just witnessed birth for the first time."

"You're...alive?" Bowser finally spoke. He walked up to the doctor and began poking him to see if he was real' even feelijg his moustache. Obviously, Eggman was quickly annoyed by this and demanded Bowser to stop. "Sorry. It's just that, under the dire consequences, I assumed you were dead."

"Hohoho! You think that a little lava can stop me? Nonsense!" Eggman began to explain his brilliant plan to save himself from the seemingly inevitable demise at the time. He found a way to use all the energy of the "trapping" mechanism to create a shield around the cockpit to prevent it from melting in the lava. After, he took the time to fix the "ejecting" function with only his bare hands. It luckily took the doctor only two weeks.

"So, what have we've accomplished so far during my absence?" Eggman asked.

"Nothing." Bowser answered in a depressed voice. He explained of the tragic loss he faced when the heroes destroyed his castle. "We've not only accomplished nothing, but we also have nothing!" He growled in despair, lowering his head.

"Hmph! Nothing grinds my gears as much as the heroes always ruining our evil plans." Eggman thought for a moment. What were they supposed to do next? They couldn't waste time rebuilding a castle when they could be planning spend it on more important things. But they needed a much better laboratory than what Bowser had offered to create evil inventions.

"If only we were at my laboratory..." Eggman whispered to himself. He quickly realized their answer to their problems was what he just mentioned. "That's it! Why haven't I've thought of it in the beginning? We'll just use my laboratory to come up with more devious plans! After all, it is supplied with much better resources than this dump!"

"Hey!" Bowser complained, offended by Eggman's comment. He quickly questioned the doctor. "Eggman, if you haven't realized this, your laboratory is nowhere near here! In fact, it's in another freakin' dimension! How do you plan on going there?"

"Well, I haven't mentioned this to you yet," Eggman began explaining. "but back in my world, I was working on this machine to teleport into other dimensions. But I wasn't able to get it to work due to unable to find a compatible source of energy. But if I'm able to rebuild that machine again, and find the right power source, we'll be able to return to _my_ world with much better gadgets!"

"Hmph, I _doubt_ you'll be able to rebuild your dimension machine." Bowser said, crossing his arms. At the moment, it was hard to take the doctor seriously. After all, he was cramped inside a cockpit for two whole weeks. Being cramped in a small space for a very long time should drive anyone crazy.

"Not with that grumpy attitude of yours." Eggman complained to him. "Face it, koopa. You said you have absolutely nothing left. Why not give this plan a chance? Who knows, maybe it will be our only plan at the moment into defeating the heroes!"

Bowser thought for a moment. Maybe Eggman was right. What if Bowser was letting his mournful emotions get to him into believing nothing will make things better for him? He was a king, darnit! A king has to show leadership even at the worst of times. Bowser rose his chin high into the air with pride. "Alright! You better hope this plan of yours works, doctor!"

"Hoho! That's the evil spirt!" Eggman exclaimed. He started whispering the plans to Bowser. "First, we're going to need to gather resources to build the machine. Here's what we need..."

* * *

**_Emerald Town, Tails's House_**

The heroes were already watching as Tails began scanning Sonic's DNA in his laboratory. He was standing in a large, glass tube that was connected to a huge computer. The hedgehog was surprisingly still in his Rainbow form. He waited impatiently for the scanning test to be over.

"How long is it until we're done scanning my body!" Sonic asked. He had his arms crossed and was quickly tapping his foot.

"Uhm...I didn't even start yet, Sonic." Tails told him. He began readying the DNA scan on his computer. "Alright, Sonic. All you have to do is stand still. A green light will flash inside the tube, which will scan the DNA of your body. Once that's done, you can come out of the tube."

Tails reached over to an orange lever on the computer's control panel and pulled it down, initiating the scanning process. Sonic stood still as a green light flashed in the tube. Tails nodded to him, signalling he could climb out of the tube.

"Gee, I gotta tell you, that was _way_ too long for me to be stuck in that thing!" Sonic whispered to Mario, pointing at the glass tube. Mario simply shrugged to him.

"But you were only there for a few seconds." Mario responded.

"What's your point?"

Mario rolled his eyes. "Mamamia, you must really not like standing still so often."

"So what does it say about Sonic's DNA?" Amy asked Tails. She was concerned about Sonic's well-being. "Is there something wrong with him? Will he be alright?"

"Hmm...well," Tails started as he was looking over the data of Sonic's DNA. "according to these readings, there appears to be some sort of special energy that was fused together with the chaos energy Sonic harnessed during the battle with Metal Sonic. That caused a reaction to transform Sonic back into his Rainbow form."

"So the special energy fusing together with the chaos energy is what made Sonic transform?" Mario asked. Tails nodded. He thought about this. "Well, what exactly is this special energy inside him?"

"My guess is the special energy has something to do with when we used the power-ups in your world." Tails explained. He took off his glove, showing the Fire Flower mark. "When these marks appeared, it meant the special energy of the power-up we took in was stored in our DNA. I'm assuming this allows us to use the energy of that power-up as we please."

"So we can use our power-ups whenever we want? Cool!" Sonic exclaimed in excitement.

"Not exactly," Tails continued. "To activate the energy stored inside us, we need another source of energy to release it. In our case, it's the energy of the Chaos Emerald." He motioned Sonic to hand him the emerald. Tails took the moment to harness the energy of the Chaos Emerald. Suddenly, his fur changed to an orange-reddish color. Tails had regained his Fire Flower abilities!

"That's amazing! Can I try?" Amy asked. Tails handed her the Chaos Emerald. Amy did her best to harness the energy of the emerald, as she had never done it before. Suddenly, her cherry red dress and boots turned into a baby blue color. Amy had regained her Ice abilities!

"Haha! Sweet! This can totally help us alot in battles!" Sonic exclaimed. A thought came into his head. "But wait, what if we don't want to be in our power-up forms? How do we, you know, turn it off?"

"I'm not sure." Tails replied. He turned to Mario. "You're an expert with these power-ups. What do you do when you want to deactivate these powers?"

"Well, one way that always seems to work is when I get hit by an enemy!" Mario explained.

"Uhm...one problem though, my power-up doesn't let me get hurt. I'm practically invincible!" Sonic reminded. "Is there any other, less painful way for us to remove these powers?"

"Why not just try thinking about it?" Mario suggested. Sonic and the others decided to take a shot at it. They thought about deactivating their power-ups, but surprisingly, it had only worked for Amy. Her dress reverted back to the cherry red color and she lost her Ice abilities.

"Why did it only work on me?" Amy asked in confusion.

"Maybe it's because you have the Chaos Emerald in your hand!" Tails exclaimed. He was glad he was finding out how their power-ups were working. Amy handed him the Chaos Emerald, allowing him to change back and lose his Fire abilities. "I'm guessing the chaos energy not only acts as an activation for the power-ups, but a deactivation as well."

"So it's like you're turning on and off a light switch?" Sonic said as Tails handed him the Chaos Emerald, allowing him to deactivate his Rainbow power-up. Tails nodded to him. "Well, it's a good thing we've finally figured out this whole power-up problem!"

"Yeah! Hopefully if we happen to explain this to _some people,_ they won't confused by this!" Mario said. He suddenly gave a sad look. "But we still need to find my friends. And the rest of the Chaos Emeralds...and the Jeweled Scepter...and the...Master Emerald...mamamia." The number of objects they had to collect overwhelmed the plumber.

"That's awfully a lot of things to find across our world," Sonic said. He grinned to Mario. "But don't worry, we'll be able to find all of them! And as I've said before, it wouldn't be an adventure if it were easy."

Suddenly, the phone call in Tail's bedroom began to ring again. The fox quickly rushed up to it and answered it. He rushed back down to the others. "Guys, that was Cream again. She told me she and her mother saw something on the news channel."

"What was it? Did they come up with this awesome new recipe for chili dogs that make them have half the fat of regular ones?" Sonic asked as he patted his belly. "I swear, my stomach is starting to get bigger the more I eat them."

"No. It's serious. They say there were some sightings of a pink comet crashing down near the islands of Apotos. The news coptors checked where that comet landed. They identified that a _princess_ came out of that comet."

"Princess?" Mario repeated. He suddenly gave a shocked look, realizing who came out of the comet. "Oh no! Peach!"

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**It looks like Princess Peach has made a landing in Sonic's world! But is she okay? And it seems like Sonic and his friends have regained the ability to use Mario power-ups! But now, it seems like Bowser and Eggman are up to no good once again! What will happen next? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Alright, it looks like Princess Peach has appeared in Sonic's world. More specifically Apotos. Speaking of the level, I thought it was the perfect first level for Sonic Unleashed. Man, the scenery in the game was so gorgeous to look at. **

**This chapter finally explains the reason Sonic and his friends have those power-up markings on their hands. To make things clear, the energy of the power-up has been stored inside the character;s DNA permanently, which is the reason why Sonic and his friends could only use one power-up. **

**For Sonic and his friends to activate the stored power-up energy, they need another type of energy to activate it, in this case, is the chaos energy in the Chaos Emeralds. No, the energy from the Chaos Heart is not the same as the Chaos Emeralds. It could be a different KIND of chaos energy. **

**Have any complaints about this? Well sorry... I kind of get sick and tired of trying to explain these plot holes for the Mario power-ups. It's really weird to see some people take this kind of information seriously. It's only a story after all. This kind of thing is supposed to be something that's fun to read, it's not like trying to figure out a math equation. So just accept my explanation and let's move on.**

**Heheh, sorry about the sudden rant. It's not really like me to do this kind of thing. **

**Seems like Eggman is alive. And Bowser must have been in some sort of depressed mood ever since he has lost everything. This shows even though he is an evil king who dreams of dominating the world, he still has a heart just like the rest of us. :)**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for the support everyone has given me. Make sure to check my profile for updates and such on my stories, but be careful, there might be TINY spoilers. I've also added a DAILY VLOG section on my profile, which gives you insight about my daily life! Although, not much effort has been put into it...**

**Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

_**-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are property of Nintendo and Sega-**_


	50. Rousing Reunions!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 50: Rousing Reunions!**_

* * *

_**Westside Island, Cream's House **_

It was becoming sunset near the area of Cream's house. Right now, Cream and Cheese were sitting outside their bedroom balcony, admiring the beautiful sunset in the horizon.

"I wonder how Mr. Sonic and the others are doing now that I've called them about the comet in the news report." Cream wondered. Cheese nodded back to her. They both wondered if it was another friend of Mr. Mario, since he had come into their world as a comet.

Suddenly, the two heard a voice calling them. Looking below, Cream and Cheese saw who was calling them. Standing in front of the house, waving up to them, was none other than Knuckles.

"Oh, hello there Mr. Knuckles!" Cream greeted him. She noticed that he had a person standing with him, who was unfamiliar to Cream. "Would you mind introducing me to your friend over there?"

"You mean Yoshi?" Knuckles said, pointing at the dinosaur. "Yeah, uhm, he's a friend of mine." Yoshi looked up to Cream and happily waved up to her.

"Aww, he's so adorable!" Cream commented on Yoshi. The dinosaur grinned in embarrassment. She turned back to Knuckles. "Anyway, what brings you both here, Mr. Knuckles."

"I was wondering if you knew where Sonic was," Knuckles asked her. "I knocked at Tails's House, but no one seems to be answering. I even checked around Emerald Town and I couldn't find them."

"Hmm...they must be headed to Apotos." Cream answered. Knuckles was puzzled, and asked her what they'd be doing there. "Well, I told them I saw a news report that explained a pink comet landed there. I suggested it may have been another friend of Mr. Mario."

"Mr. Mario?" Yoshi repeated. He didn't believe her at first. "Are you saying you know Mario?"

"Yes," Cream nodded back to him. "Why? Are you also friends with Mr. Mario as well?"

"Yeah! He's one of my best friends! And I can't believe he's also here in this world!" Yoshi exclaimed in glee. He quickly did a Flutter Jump in joy and danced around for a bit.

"So Mario and the others really did land in this world." Knuckles said to himself. This gave him a little hope, knowing that also the Master Emerald really was somewhere lost in their world. He thanked Cream for the information. Knuckles and Yoshi began heading back to Emerald Town.

"How are we supposed to reach Mario and the others?" Yoshi asked Knuckles. The echidna told him not to worry, saying he knew where to get them both a ride.

_Tails wouldn't mind if I borrowed one of his planes._

* * *

**_Above the skies of Apotos_**

It was a peaceful evening near the city of Apotos. The sunset was glowing over the ocean landmark. Apotos was made up entirely out of islands located off the peninsula of a humongous continent. The city had beautifully constructed buildings, flourishing field of flowers and hills, and big windmills.

At the moment, our heroes were flying over the islands, trying to find a place to land. Tails was piloting the new Tornado 2, after the old one had exploded in their fight with Eggman in Empire City. Amy sat in the passanger seat right behind Tails. Sonic and Mario both stood on opposite wings of the Tornado 2, although Mario was holding onto the wing for his dear life.

"How do you _not_ get scared of falling off this thing, Sonic?" Mario called out to him, crouching on the plane's wings and holding on the edges with both arms. Sonic shrugged and said it never came to his mind up until now.

"Look! I think that's where Princess Peach landed!" Amy said, pointing to one of Apotos's islands. Near the center of the grassy hills of the island was a huge crater. Tails took the time to land the Tornado 2 near the area. The heroes got off the plane, which was a relief to Mario, and inspected the crater.

"This seems like the place." Sonic said, looking down into the crater. He quickly noticed something inside it. "Hey! It's her crown." The hedgehog jumped down and picked it up from the ground, dusting off the dirt. The crown was encrusted with red and blue jewels. Sonic handed the crown to Mario.

"I hope Peach is alright." Mario said. He couldn't live with himself if something terrible had happened to Peach. "Where do you think she is right now?"

"I'm sure the residence here took her to the nearest clinic, just to make sure she is alright." Tails told him. "Come on, we should ask some of the people around here."

The heroes walked through the grassy hill of the island and over a white bridge connecting the hills to the town of Apotos. The sidewalks were a not much crowded with people, allowing the heroes to walk through the town quickly. They admired the gorgeous scenery around them and the amazing view of the ocean. The heroes started asking the residents if they knew anything about a princess landing near the city.

A boy in a red stripped shirt and blue shorts directed the heroes to the "Flower Clinic". The clinic building was was located deep inside of the town. It was fairly large and was surrounded by pots of flowers. A flight of red stairs led to the doors.

"Well, this must be it." Sonic said. He and the others climbed up the stairs and knocked on the door. A tall, elderly man with a long, grey beard, wearing a black robe and cap along with circular glasses answered the door.

"Good evening, young ones!" the old man greeted them. "My name is Gregorios. I am the owner of this clinic. How may I help you?"

"Hey, I remember you!" Sonic said, pointing at Gregorios. "You're that old man who gave me some pretty helpful advice the last time I was here." Sonic remembered the adventure he had when Eggman broke the planet into pieces to release a powerful creature from it. Gregorios also seemed to remember Sonic and was glad to meet him again.

"I was wondering if you knew about a princess crash landing near here." Mario asked. Gregorios nodded to him and asked if they knew her. Mario showed him the crown they had found. "She's a very good friend of ours. Please let us see her."

"As you wish." Gregorios invited them into the Flower Clinic. He led them into a large room in the upper level. There, lying down on a bed in the middle of the room, was Princess Peach. She was sleeping with a white blanket over her body. A window was located above the bed, causing the sunset light to glow over her body.

"Peach!" Mario called out to her. He quickly ran up to her side, happy to see her. "Peach! It's-a me! Mario!" Strangely, Peach did not answer him, and continued to lie down in the bed, still asleep.

"I'm afraid that won't work." Gregorios began to explain. "You see, the girl is suffering through a terrible coma." The heroes were shocked to hear the news.

"No...no...she can't be...please tell me you didn't say she is in a coma!" Mario pleaded in desperation. Gregorios could only shake his head to Mario. The plumber gave a sorrow look. He turned to the princess in bed and gently held onto her hand. Seeing his distress, Sonic and the others tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry, Mario. I'm sure that Peach will soon wake up from her coma." Amy said as she put her hand to his shoulder. But her comfort still didn't cheer Mario up. Suddenly, he had an idea pop into his head.

"Sonic, do you still have the Chaos Emerald with you?" Mario asked him. Sonic took the emerald out of his pocket and showed it to him, puzzled to what Mario was thinking of. "Can't we use the power of the emerald to wake Peach from her coma?"

"I'm not sure that will work." Tails spoke. "I mean, I've never seen them being used to heal somebody from a serious injury."

"Why not?" Mario questioned him. "Didn't you also say the emeralds are able to enchance a person's strength? Why can't we use it to enhance the health of Peach so she'll wake up from her coma? Can't we atleast try?"

"Mario does have a point," Sonic said as he walked up to the bed. "Chaos Emeralds do give people strength to survive, I should know! It couldn't hurt to try." Tails began to think about what they said. He agreed to try and use the emerald's energy to wake Peach from her coma.

Sonic handed the Chaos Emerald to Mario. At first, he didn't know exactly how to use it's power, but Sonic explained to him the emerald uses people's thoughts and turned it into power. Mario understood and tried it. He began to think of using the energy to wake Peach from her coma.

All of a sudden, a red ball of light flashed out of the Chaos Emerald. It slowly floated toward's Peach's body. It flashed into her body, causing it to glow white for a second. Suddenly, Peach began to move.

"Ooh..." she silently moaned and suddenly went back into her coma. The heroes were confused.

"Why didn't it work?" Amy pondered to them. "I mean, it did kind of work, but only for a few seconds. It's like she only had enough energy to wake up for a short period of time."

"That's probably what we need. More energy." Tails assumed. He pointed to the Chaos Emerald in Mario's hand. "I don't think one Chaos Emerald is enough to heal Peach. We might need to get another emerald for the healing process to work."

"Then I guess you guys know what that means. We need to go out and search for another Chaos Emerald!" Sonic exclaimed.

Mario was disappointed the energy of the Choas Emerald wasn't enough to heal Peach. But he was glad to know they had hope to saving her. He looked down to the princess. She seemed so defenseless and innocent when she was asleep.

_Don't worry, Peach. We'll wake you up, whatever it takes. _

The heroes soon left the Flower Clinic, bidding Gregorios farewell for now. They wandered through the narrow streets of Apotos. Sonic and his friends noticed that Mario was still a little depressed.

"Hey, Mario. I know what will definitely cheer you up," Sonic said. "A Chocolate Chipped Cream Sundae Supreme!" The hedgehog went up to the nearest ice cream vendor, who gave him an ice cream cone topped with a variety of sweets. Sonic gave the cone to Mario, who gave it a small taste test.

"Mmmm, not bad!" Mario said as he continued to eat the dessert. It seemed to cheer up the plumber. He continued eating it as the heroes headed their way back to the Tornado 2. At that time, the ice cream filled Mario's belly. "Gee, that was really good!"

"Glad to see that cheered you up." Sonic said, happy to see Mario feeling a little better. He hopped onto the Tornado 2's wing. "Alright, so now we know we gotta find the Chaos Emerald. How exactly are we going to do that?"

"I have the perfect solution," Tails spoke as he climbed into the Tornado 2's driving seat. "I have an old Emerald Radar that I have lying around in my laboratory. We can use it to find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds."

"That will make things easier on us." Amy stated. She remembered something. "Hey, what happened to that gadget Professer E. Gadd gave to you? You know, the 3DS Horror?"

"Oh yeah," Tails remembered about the gadget. "It should be in the shelves, along with the rest of my gadgets I made. I'm thinking of transferring all the features from the device onto my Miles Electric."

"That's pretty clever." Sonic remarked. He began to stretch on the wing of the plane, waiting for Tails to start the engine. Suddenly, the hedgehog heard something in the sky. He quickly looked up and couldn't believe what he saw. "No way...isn't that the Tornado 1?"

The others looked up and were surprised as well. Up in the sky, was the Tornado 1 flying towards them. The Tornado 1 looked exactly like the Tornado 2, only it was painted orange.

As it got closer, the heroes realized who was piloting the plane. It was Knuckles! He was struggling to fly the plane, but only succeeded in making wide turns and flying in circles. In the back seat, was Yoshi! He was keeping his eyes closed, panicking from Knuckles's terrible flying.

"Knuckles? And Yoshi!" Mario gasped. He was pleasantly surprised to see his dinosaur friend was okay. But he wondered what he was doing in the plane, along with Knuckles. "What are they doing here?"

"The more important question is, how did they get my plane!" Tails shouted in bewilderment.

"Whatsup guys!" Knuckles yelled down to them. He let go of the plane's steering stick to wave down to them. Unfortunately, it wasn't the smartest move he could've done. The Tornado 1 quickly swerved down towards the ocean. Knuckles tried to regain control, but accidently broke the steering stick. "Oh great, just what we needed..."

"You knucklehead!" Yoshi yelled to him. He slapped himself in the forehead. Knuckles gave the dinosaur an embarrassed grin.

The Tornado 1 swoop down towards the ocean. Just as it hit the water, it quickly swooped back up into the sky. It began to do these crazy loops and twirls, before crashing into another island of Apotos.

"Oh no! We have to see if they're alright!" Amy told the others.

Tails quickly started the engine of the Tornado 2. The plane quickly flew off the island they were on and quickly landed to the island that Knuckles and Yoshi crashed on.

Where did you see them crash at?" Sonic asked. Mario told them he saw them crash near the big bell tower near the middle of the island. The heroes rushed through the town and headed to the Bell Tower Square.

There, the Tornado 1 had crashed landed right in the middle of the Bell Tower Square. It crashed through a few tables and chairs, but luckily no one was hurt. Well, except for maybe Knuckles and Yoshi, who laid near the wreckage of the Tornado 1.

"Ohh...my head." Yoshi moaned as he slowly sat up. He rubbed his head, a bit dazed from the fall. He turned to Knuckles, who was still laying face-flat on the ground. "What the heck was that? You told me you knew how to drive a plane!"

"Yeah...I sorta lied on that part." Knuckles groaned as he slowly stood up. He looked at the the wreckage the caused to the Tornado 1. "Aww man! Tails is gonna kill me when he knows about this!" He turned to Yoshi and begged him. "Please, make sure you don't tell Tails about this!"

"Oh, you don't have to." Tails spoke out to him. The fox clearly had an angry look on his face. His hands were on the side of his hips. Knuckles moaned and put both his hands on his face.

"Tails!" Yoshi suddenly exclaimed and hugged the fox. Tails's anger suddenly died down and turned to joy as he realized he was embraced in Yoshi's arms. It had been a long time since the two friends had seen each other.

"Yoshi! It's so great to see you again!" Tails said as he patted the dinosaur's head. The dinosaur licked his face in delight, then proceeded to the others.

"Sonic! Amy!" Yoshi exclaimed as he hugged the both of them. The two hedgehogs were happy to see the dinosaur was still as cheerful as ever. After talking to each other for a few minutes, Yoshi turned to Mario, who was relieved the dinosaur was okay.

"How did you get here, Yoshi?" Mario asked as he hugged the dinosaur. Yoshi explained how he landed on Angel Island and how Knuckles helped him get to Apotos. "I see. Did you happen to find the others?"

"No." Yoshi answered as he shook his head. "I hope they're alright. How about you? Did you find any of the others?" Mario nodded. He explained how he and the others found Peach in Apotos, but she happened to be in a coma. "That's horrible! How long is she going to be like that?"

"I don't know." Mario said. He assured Yoshi that Peach was going to be alright. He told him all they had to do was find another Chaos Emerald. Mario suddenly remembered that Yoshi was with him the day they were suddenly transported to Sonic's world. He asked him what happened after Junior knocked him out.

"It was awful," Yoshi began explaining. "After Junior knocked both you and Luigi, a huge, bright portal appeared in the sky and suddenly sucked in all of us. It sucked in the Master Emerald first, then all the Chaos Emeralds. Then it sucked in you and Luigi. When it sucked in the princess, I tried to rescue her, but I ended up getting sucked in as well. I'm not sure what happened to the others."

"Most likely they got sucked up into the portal as well." Tails assumed. After hearing how Mario and his friends really entered Sonic world, it was all clear to Mario, Sonic and the others.

"So what's the plan?" Knuckles asked them. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you think? We're going to find them of course!" Sonic said. "So are all of you guys in for another adventure?" The others agreed with Sonic. He grinned and gave them a thumbs-up. "Alright! If we work together like we did back in Mario's world, we'll find all the Chaos Emeralds, retrieve both the Master Emerald and the Jeweled Scepter, and rescue Mario's friends in no time!"

The heroes cheered. Nothing was going to stop them. They were all determined to go on another adventure. They knew it was going to be much challenging than last time, but the heroes knew they'd be able to handle it.

Their first goal of course, was to find another Chaos Emerald in order to heal Peach from her coma.

"I just wish my Tornado 1 didn't have to broken in the process..." Tails sighed as he looked back to the badly damaged plane. Knuckles assured him he could fix it again, just like the Tornado 2. Tails suddenly blew his top off at him. "I wouldn't have to fix it if _you_ weren't being a knucklehead!"

"Geez, I'm sorry!" Knuckles apologized. "It was just an accident! You're lucky I didn't happen to accidently break anything else when I had to enter your house by punching through a window."

Tails simply glared at Knuckles and rolled his eyes in annoyance. _No wonder Eggman was able to fool him so many times. He is so ignorant!_

* * *

**_South Island, Green Hill Zone_**

It was a calm evening in the land of the Green Hill Zone. The sunset covered the green fields and checkered soil hills and mountains in a soothing glow. The huge, blue lakes glistened in the sunset. The palm trees and colorful flowers swayed slowly in the breeze.

Green Hill Zone was located near the coast of South Island, which was the place where Sonic began his very first adventure into foiling Eggman's plan. South Island was located a few miles south of Westside Island.

At the moment, Metal Sonic was lying down on one of the hills. Apparently, in their fight back in Emerald Town, Sonic's Rainbow Spin Dash attack was so powerful, it was enough to send the robot flying into Green Hill.

"How did this all happen?" Metal Sonic said to himself. He regarded how he found himself back in his own world and how the Star Children and the Chaos Emeralds were also in his world. Metal Sonic remembered the last thing that happened before he was knocked out. He had been rescuing Mario and Sonic from their doom in the hands of Bowser and Eggman.

_But this still does not make sense._ Metal Sonic thought. It didn't explain exactly how they were transported from the Star Children's world back to his world. If only he had been active at the time.

"Hold on...what if the koopaling actually did it?" Metal Sonic was closing on the possibility that Junior had done the "ritual" without him. Metal Sonic was impressed the koopaling was capable of doing it by himself. But it did not explain why they ended up in Sonic's world.

"The only other explanation is that it was not successful. The ritual." Metal Sonic knew if the ritual had worked, they would have been in the "Negative Dimension". But they weren't. He began to wonder what flaws Junior may have done. Did he say the summoning correctly? Did he arrange the Star Children and the artifacts in the correct formation? Or was it because they didn't actually have all seven Star Children?

"I'm going to have to talk to the young koopaling to know what he did exactly during the ritual." Metal Sonic planned to himself. The robot knew that no matter if the ritual was successful or not, all the participants of the ritual and the artifacts would be teleported to another dimension. In this case, it was Sonic's world.

"I know that the red plumber and his Chaos Emerald is here, but where could the others have been teleported to?" Metal Sonic began to ponder to himself. Suddenly, Metal Sonic saw something soaring through the sky. He stared at it for a moment, realizing it was a green comet. It was careening rapidly towards Green Hill Zone!

Metal Sonic watched as the green comet soared past the hills and palm trees of the area, crash into the lower side of a huge mountain in the area. Curious, Metal Sonic used his jet-pack to rocket to where the comet landed. The robot was shocked to see what had came out of it.

Wiggling out of the hole it made in the side of the mountain, was a familiar plumber who wore dark blue overalls, a green hat and a very sleek moustache. Metal Sonic quickly recognized the person. It was none other than one of the Star Children, Luigi.

"Where am I?" Luigi said as he looked aeound the area. He rubbed his head in pain. "Geez, that was a rough landing!" He looked up, seeing Metal Sonic staring down at him. Surprisingly, Luigi wasn't scared from his presence and instead kindly greeted the robot. "Oh, hello sir. Do you know where I am?"

"You...aren't afraid of me?" Metal Sonic asked. He was confused from Luigi's kind gesture towards him. "Even after the cruel actions I've acted upon you in the past?"

"...what cruel actions? What are you talking about?" Luigi asked him, hardly knowing what Metal Sonic was talking about. "All I remember is..." A panicked look rushed onto his face. "Oh no! I don't remember anything at all! What's my name? Where do I come from? What am I doing here!"

_Hmm. It seems the Star Child is suffering from amnesia._ Metal Sonic assumed as he watched Luigi rocking back and forth on the ground in panick. Suddenly, something caught Metal Sonic's eye. On the ground, a few feet from Luigi, was the Blue Chaos Emerald.

"The Chaos Emerald!" Metal Sonic exclaimed. It seemed that Luigi must've had it this whole time, but it happened to fall out of his pocket. Luigi noticed the emerald and picked it up.

"A Chaos Emerald?" Luigi repeated. He stared at the glowing emerald in his hand. He was amazed at it's mysterious powers.

Metal Sonic suddenly came up with an idea. It was an opportunity he couldn't miss. With Luigi knowing nothing of the past events, Metal Sonic could manipulate his mind for his own plans. He walked up to Luigi and spoke to him in a kind manner. "I cannot believe you do not remember who I am, dear friend."

"Y-you're my friend?" Luigi asked, raising an eyebrow. Metal Sonic nodded to him. Luigi fell for the lie. "Oh...okay. Then if you're my friend, you should know who I am."

"Indeed I do," Metal Sonic began. "In fact, I know a _whole _lot about you. You're name is Luigi. You and I have been friends for a long time." He put a hand on Luigi's shoulder. "Allow me to explain to you what has been going on..."

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Peach has fallen in a terrible predicament! Will Mario, Sonic and the rest of the heroes be able to find another Chaos Emerald and heal her from her coma? And what does Metal Sonic have in plan with the amnesiac Luigi? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Whoa! Did any of you guys realize this story has reached 50 chapters already? What an accomplishment! There aren't that many stories like this that get up to 50 chapters! And we're only half finished this story. As I've promised, this story will have a total of 100 chapters altogether. I can assure you the further we get through this story, there will be more action, more humor and more drama!**

**Green Hill Zone was the first ever level in the Sonic series. South Island is the name of the area that Sonic The Hedgehog took place. There's a reason that Metal Sonic landed on the island, which will be explained next chapter.**

**I'm going to make these Author Notes shorter from now on. I feel like I'm re-telling what's happening in the story, taking away information that you guys can tell yourselves in reviews. **

**Before I forget, check my profile for a peek at the new avatar I've created! It reflects the important characters in the story.**

**Well, that's all I have to say for this week. Make sure you come back next week for the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who has supported me. It really means alot! Check my profile for updates and what I'm up to on my DAILY BLOG section.**

**Bye for now!**

**-Azurixx**

**********__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	51. New Tensions!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 51: New Tensions!**_

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails's House**_

It was early in the night near the coast of Emerald Town. The sky was filled endlessly with sparkling stars. The moon was seen right above the horizon, with the ocean waves calmly swaying under it. Emerald Town was lucky to be near the beach, where you could gaze at the spectacular sight.

Meanwhile, the heroes were back inside Tails's House. Everyone except Amy was there, who the heroes had dropped off back at her place. Mario, Sonic, Tails, Yoshi and Knuckles were conversing in the kitchen area.

The kitchen was fairly small and was located in the upper floor of Tails's House. It had your usual counter, sink, cupboard, stove and fridge. There was a table in the center of the room, where the heroes sat. The kitchen had orange walls and white floor tilings.

At the moment, Tails was fixing them up a snack of Kebabwiches. It was a recipe that consisted of stir-fried meats and vegetables wrapped in pane dough. Tails had learned the recipe one time when he had stayed in Apotos.

"Here you go guys," Tails said as he placed the plate of Kebabwiches on the table. Everyone grabbed one and began to eat.

"Mamamia!" Mario exclaimed while his mouth was full. "These are amazing! I'm-a never knew you could cook Tails."

"Heheh, I don't just create gadgets all day, you know." Tails joked. He grabbed the last Kebabwich on the plate and proceeded to put the plate into the sink.

"Speaking of gadgets," Sonic began as he took a bite out of his Kebabwich. "did you happen to find the Emerald Radar in your laboratoryt yet?"

"I haven't checked for it yet, but I'll look for right now." Tails said. He didn't even take a single bite from his Kebabwich when he began proceeding down to his laboratory. The rest of the heroes continued eating their Kebabwich snacks. Yoshi was the first one to finish. He had gulped down his snack in one single bite.

"I wish I had more food to eat," Yoshi sighed. He rubbed his stomach, which ached for more food. He began to stare at Tails's refrigerator. "Hey, you think Tails will mind if I sneak something out of his fridge?"

"He probably will," Knuckles said in a frustrated tone. "heck, he'd probably get angry at any of us if we even touch the walls!" Knuckles was still angry that Tails blew his head off to him for breaking both his Tornado 1 _and _one of his house windows. As punishment, Knuckles had to become Tails's personal assistant and help replace the things he had broken.

"Let it go, Knuckles." Sonic told him. Knuckles gave him an angry look.

"SHUTUP, SONIC!" Knuckles shouted at him as he slammed his fists on the table. "Geez! You say sorry to someone a _thousand _times and yet it's not enough for them. And it was all over one lousy window!"

"But you _did_ ruin his Tornado 1," Sonic reminded him. "that was practically one of his favorite inventions of all time. Come on, wouldn't _you _get frustrated if something really valuable to you was literally broken into a million pieces?" The hedgehog was referring to the Master Emerald.

"Grrrr...I guess you have a point..." Knuckles said calmly, realizing what Sonic was talking about. "Still, it sucks that I gotta help build a new plane. I didn't even know how to fly the dang thing! How does Tails expect me to build a new one?" He decided to turn to Mario for an answer, but saw the plumber staring down at the crown of Peach's in his hand.

"You know Knuckles, There are plenty of more important things to worry about at the moment." Mario said to the echidna. He had a distressed look on his face.

Knuckles realized how much of a jerk he was being at the moment. He was worrying about his own punishment that he rightfully deserved when he should be worrying about the well-being of Mario's friends. Knuckles put a hand to his forehead and shook it in shame. "I'm really sorry, Mario. I realize I'm being selfish right now. But I _am _a knucklehead after all."

The statement caused the others to chuckle. Even Mario cracked a small smile. That was Knuckles for you. Even at the seemingly worst of times, he was sure to be able to lighten up the moods of everyone. The heroes decided to talk about other things while waiting for Tails to return. A few minutes passed and the fox came back to the kitchen. He had a worried look on his face.

"Hey, what's wrong, buddy?" Sonic asked him.

"I can't find the Emerald Radar!" Tails answered in a panicked voice. "I looked around everywhere in my laboratory, but I just can't seem to find it! It's like it disappeared or something!"

"Whoa there buddy, take a deep breath and calm down," Sonic said. "Are you sure you didn't misplace it?" Tails assured him he didn't. Sonic was somewhat perplexed. "Well, that seems strange. An object can't just seem to disappear out of thin air."

"So how are we going to find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds?" Yoshi asked. The group though it over for a minute.

"Well, I _could _build another Emerald Radar with the Chaos Emerald we already have," Tails explained in a calmer voice. "It shouldn't be complicated for me. I've built a ton of radars before anyway." He suddenly came up with an idea. "Hey! I could even use the time to transfer the functions of the 3DS Horror onto my Miles Electric. At the same time, even add an Emerald Radar on my peripheral. It's perfect!"

"Good idea!" Knuckles praised him. He sat back lazily on his chair. "We'll just spend the night here relaxing while you go on a build you're doohickey or whatever it's called again."

"Oh no, don't think I'm letting you off the hook this easily," Tails said in a serious tone. He pointed to the echidna. "You still owe me for destroying my Tornado 1 and window. You're going to help me build my gadgets."

"What! Hey! But that wasn't part of the deal!" Knuckles began to complain. He turned to Sonic, but the hedgehog gave him a look that showed he was on Tails's side. Knuckles quickly knew he wouldn't win this battle. "Gah! Fine! I'll help! Just make sure I don't get my hands on a tool that I could use to break anything else in this dang house."

"Oh, don't worry. After considering the recent events, you can be sure I won't ever do something like that." Tails assured him. He motioned Knuckles to follow him down to his laboratory. With the extra help he had, Tails estimated he would finish transferring the 3DS Horror's functions onto the Miles Electric _and_ build a new Emerald Radar by tomorrow morning.

"So, where do you guys plan on staying?" Sonic asked both Mario and Yoshi. The two looked at each other and had no clue. Sonic chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Tails will let you bunk with him as long as you want."

"That's good to know." Yoshi said. He began to yawn. "Boy, I am beat! I think I'll go sleep now." Yoshi climbed out of the kitchen chair and slowly went his way to find Tails's bedroom. He knew Tails wouldn't mind if he _borrowed_ his bed for the night.

* * *

**_South Island, Abandoned Scrap Brain_**

Deep inside the summit of the mountains of South Island, was a giant, abandoned factory fortress. This was the old lair that Dr. Eggman had built on his first attempt to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds. As always, Sonic had thwarted his evil plans, causing the doctor to abandon his fortress and work elsewhere. Years had passed by ever since the event and the fortress had been left alone to rust away.

The fortress was made up of steel walls and floorings. Pipes connected everywhere. Many dangerous traps laid around the area. Outside the fortress were high-rising skyscrapers that fumed out smoke in the air. Inside were many conveyer belts, flamethrowers, spinning maces, electric spinners, saw blades and even a huge mazed underground filled with chemical water!

But since the fortress had been abandoned, none of the traps were active at the time.

"This area shall suffice for now." Metal Sonic spoke. He walked into the entrance of the factory. He looked back, seeing Luigi walking cautiously towards into the room. "There is nothing to fear about this place. The machinery appears to be deactivated."

"Are you sure this place is safe?" Luigi said nervously. He looked around, seeing the deactivated sawblades hanging on the rooms ceiling. "Why do we need to make our base in here? It looks dangerous!"

"That is the reason why we came here." Metal Sonic explained. "No one would dare enter this area. It shall be our own hidden headquarters."

"Still, we could have picked a much _cleaner_ place than this dump." Luigi whispered to himself. He turned to Metal Sonic, who was staring at the Blue Chaos Emerald in his robotic hands. "Care to explain to me about our plan again?"

"If you insist," Metal Sonic explained again about their plan to enter the Negative Dimension by performing a ritual with the Chaos Emeralds and the Star Children.

"So are you sure that I'm one of these Star Children?" Luigi asked. Metal Sonic nodded to him. Due to Luigi still suffering from his amnesia, it was quite easy for the robot to fool Luigi. Metal Sonic already lied about telling the plumber he was his best friend for many years and his mortal enemies were a particular blue hedgehog and a man who dressed exactly like Luigi, only they wore red.

"I sort of wish I remembered more about myself." Luigi sighed. He smiled to Metal Sonic. "Thanks for helping me remember what I've forgotten. You are a true friend."

Metal Sonic simply nodded to him. It felt somewhat strange for an enemy he had trouble with in the past to began calling him a friend. In fact, it was the first time someone ever called Metal Sonic a friend.

"Alright, so we have our secret base picked out," Luigi began. "What's your plan on retrieving the rest of the Chaos Emeralds, Metal?"

"I have it all planned out." Metal Sonic assured him. He took out a gadget and showed it to Luigi. It was a yellow circular device that appeared to be a radar of some sort. "This is an Emerald Radar. It will allow us to track where the rest of the Chaos Emeralds are located."

"Pretty nifty device," Luigi commented as he looked at the radar device in awe. "Where were you able to get something like that?"

"I stole it from the laboratory of the blue hedgehog's fox friend." Metal Sonic told him. "They had captured me earlier this week and tried to commit _terrible_ actions on my body."

"I can't believe they would do that!" Luigi said, angrily. "I really hope we get the chance to see them. I wanna clobber them for all the terrible things they've tried to do to us." Luigi suddenly gave an uncertain look. Suffering from amnesia, it was hard for him to remember of the "terrible" things. "They have done terrible things to us, right?"

"Yes...they have done terrible things to us in the past, Luigi." Metal Sonic lied to him. "You must channel all your anger and hatred towards them. It's the right thing to do."

"And we are friends." Luigi reminded him. "Friends stick together. I'll fight by your side against those fiends no matter what!" He held his towards Metal Sonic. The robot was surprised by his gesture, but shook his hand nontheless. "So, when do we begin searching for the emeralds?"

"Tomorrow morning," Metal Sonic answered. "for tonight, we must begain repairs to this fortress. We need everything up and running for when we prepare for the ritual to the Negative Dimension."

"I'll get right on it!" Luigi assured him. He gave Metal Sonic a thumbs-up, then ran into one of the fortress's rooms. His reluctance around the fortress changed into sudden determination to fix up the fortress for his friend he thought he knew for years.

"Everything is going according to plan." Metal Sonic said to himself. He looked down to the Emerald Radar in his hand and switched it on. It showed him the coordinates to one of the lost Chaos Emeralds scattered across the planet.

* * *

**_Emerald Town, Inside the Tornado's Launch Tunnel_**

The heroes were waiting inside the launch tunnel of the Tornado. The room was located under Tails's House. The tunnel's interior was made completely out of metal and housed the vehicles Tails had invented. This included the Tornado 2 and the Tornado 3, another version of the Tornado, only this could transform into both a car and had a "Cyclone" mode where it transformed into a mechanical walking shooting machine. The Tornado 1 wasn't there, due to obvious reasons.

The machines faced towards a long tunnel that connected to the cliffs near Emerald Beach. It acted as the launch way and this was how Tails would fly the machines in and out of his laboratory when needed.

"Hold on for a minute, guys." Tails told them. He was in the cockpit of the Tornado 2, setting up for their journey to find the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic, Mario, Yoshi and Amy were waiting down with him.

"Hmm, are you sure that _all _of us can fit into this tiny plane?" Yoshi asked as he stared at the vehicle in awe. They never had these kinds of machines back in their world. The only problem he had with it was the number of seats. There were only two: one for the pilot and one for a single passenger.

"I'm sure we can think of something so all five of us can fit into the plane." Sonic said. He quickly jumped onto the left wing of the Tornado 2. "I like having a front from a plane ride, so I'll take this seat."

"I'm-a taking the passenger seat." Mario quickly said. "It's not that I don't like riding on the wing, it's-a just that one wrong step and you'll end up taking an unwanted free fall back to the ground. And I don't want to endure another crash landing anywhere again!"

"Can I sit on your lap then?" Yoshi asked him. Mario nodded to the dinosaur. "Great!

"I guess that leaves Knuckles with the other wing to sit on," Sonic stated. He crossed his arms. "speaking of the knucklehead, where is he anyway?"

Just then, Knuckles came running down into the Launch Tunnel room. In his hand, he was carrying a large, yellow electronic device in his hand. It had a screen in the middle and a few buttons arranged on the sides. Knuckles rushed up to Tails and handed him the device. "Here's your Miles Electric. I just plugged it out from charging."

"Thanks, Knuckles." Tails said as he grabbed the Miles Electric from his hand. The device had many new functions installed onto it, including all the functions from the 3DS Horror and a new Emerald Radar app. Tails and Knuckles had worked on it all night. Tails turned to Knuckles and nodded to him. "For an assistant, you're not half-bad."

"Does that mean I'm off the hook?" Knuckles asked him desperately.

"Nope. You're still my assistant until I tell you you're not anymore."

"Darnit!" Knuckles muttered to himself.

"Well, I guess we're all set!" Sonic exclaimed. "Now that we have everything we need, we can finally set off to search for the Chaos Emeralds." He quickly motioned Knuckles to get on the opposite wing of him. Knuckles complained he wanted the passenger seat, but Mario told him he and Yoshi already took it.

"Wait. I thought I was coming with you guys." Amy suddenly spoke. The heroes looked at her, then they all turned to Sonic.

"Yeah...well, you see Amy," Sonic jumped down from the wing of the Tornado 2 and walked up towards her. "We kind of thought it was best if you stayed back this time. If you were to come with us, it would only slow us down."

"Are you saying you don't want me around with you anymore?" Amy asked in a slightly disappointed tone.

"Huh? Wait, no! It's just that the others-"

"I don't care what the others think, Sonic!" Amy shouted to him. It was clear that she was angry. "I can't believe you don't want me around anymore! It's like your throwing me away like garbage! Don't you remember the good times we had adventuring together? It's like they mean absolutely _nothing_ to you anymore!"

"What? Amy! It's nothing like that!" But before Sonic could explain it to her, Amy was already storming out of Tails's House. Sonic slapped himself in the forehead and sighed. "Man, she can be

"Heh, nice going, Sonic. You got a girl to get angry at you." Knuckles taunted him. "Not that it's your specialty to disappoint others." Sonic ignored Knuckles. He really wished he could chase after Amy and clearly explain to her what their true intentions were for the decision. But they had much bigger problems to deal with at the moment. Sonic climbed back onto the wing of the Tornado 2 and sat down on it, slightly sad from what just happened.

"Don't worry, Sonic. You'll have time explain things to her once we retrieve the first Chaos Emerald." Mario tried to comfort him while having Yoshi sitting on his lap, who was almost smothering him. He had to rearrange his posture every few seconds to make himself comfortable with having the extra weight on him.

Sonic nodded back to Mario. He turned to Tails, who was just starting up the engine to the Tornado 2. The front propeller began spinning wildly. "So Tails, what's our first stop?" Tails turned on his Miles Electric and turned on the Emerald Radar app.

"Alright! I've got it!" Tails exclaimed, holding up his Miles Electric. He stared at the screen and waited for coordinates to appear. "Hmm, it looks like our first emerald is somewhere in Mazuri."

"You mean the continent where they have a whole bunch of wild animals running around the land?" Knuckles asked him. "Well that's great! I just hope an elephant or something didn't find it and decided to make it it's next meal."

"Alright guys, buckle up."Tails said. He quickly grabbed onto the piloting stick and began flying the Tornado 2 out of the Launch Tunnel. The heroes flew from Emerald Town and began their long flight to Mazuri.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**The first Chaos Emerald is in the exotic land of Mazuri! Will the heroes succeed in retrieving it before anyone else does? And what plans do Metal Sonic and Luigi have in plan for the abandoned Scrap Brain zone? Tuhe in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Seems like a lot of things are beginning to happen. Metal Sonic and Luigi have found a new hideout, the heroes have begun their journey for the Chaos Emeralds and Sonic and Amy seem to be having a fit with each other! What will happen next?**

**Scrap Brain was one of the last levels of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis. I remember how painful it was to go through this level without dying as a child. (and don't get me started on the boss level AFTER that!)**

**If you don't remember about the Miles Electric, it's the device that was introduced in Sonic Unleashed. Remember when Tails showed you a satellite video of the earth reassembling itself when you return the first Chaos Emerald in Mazuri? And remember when Tails tried to make a translator for the Wisps in Sonic Colors? That is the same Miles Electric in this story, only it has the upgrades of the 3DS Horror installed on it. **

**Thank you to everyone who has supported me. It means a lot! Make sure you come back next week for the next chapter. Check my profile for updates on my stories and see what's happening in my life in my DAILY BLOG section!**

**Bye for now!**

**-Azurixx**

**__************__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-  



	52. Escape to Mazuri!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 52: Escape to Mazuri!_**

* * *

**_Above the skies of Mazuri_**

It was warm, beautiful day in Mazuri. The sun shone down onto the large, savannah plains. Tall grass and reddish-brown soil covered most of the continent. There were clumps of forests consisting of Baobab trees and various watering holes scattered across the land. These resources provided food and shelter for the wildlife animals, which most were exotic to Mazuri.

"Wow! This place is amazing!" Yoshi gasped as he had his first glimpse of Mazuri from the sky. Even Mario was impressed by the vast land under them.

"I like it when we come here every so often," Sonic spoke. "this place has so much room for me to run, I never get tired drifting through the plains. I always feel free whenever I come visit here."

"I have to say, the wildlife here is immense." Knuckles commented. He pointed down towards a herd of zebras running across the plains. "Would I give anything to ride on one of those. It looks pretty fun!"

"Alright guys, enough sight-seeing," Tails told them. He began to steer the Tornado 2 down towards a small village. "The Emerald Radar is telling us we're getting close to a Chaos Emerald."

"That was quick." Yoshi said with a grin. "Hey, maybe this Chaos Emerald hunt won't be so hard after all!" Knuckles suddenly howled with laughter.

"You've got a lot to learn when searching for Chaos Emeralds, Yoshi." Knuckles said. He turned to Sonic. "Hey, when was it ever easy for us to find Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic simply shrugged.

"Hey, atleast you don't have to venture through different worlds and collect over a _hundred_ Power Stars, just to stop an evil koopa king from taking over a kingdom." Mario spoke. Sonic and Knuckles both gave him a look of disbelief. "I'm not kidding, paisanos. I'm not kidding."

"Never said I didn't believe you." Sonic answered, grinning to himself.

Tails began to carefully park the Tornado 2 by the small village. The village stood atop an area of reddish-brown soil and surrounded by a few small trees. There were numerous huts made up of mud exteriors and straw roofings. A large tree was located near the center of the village, and it apparently housed a shop.

"This village seems really peaceful," Yoshi commented as he climbed out of the Tornado 2. He sniffed around the air, smelling a sweet aroma nearby. "Oh! I think I smell fruit! Come on, let's hurry!"

Suddenly, a loud ruckus emitted from the village. Out of nowhere, a small monkey jumped out of one of the huts windows, carrying a red headband in it's hand. The monkey screeched loudly, then escaped from the village, heading towards a distant jungle in the plains.

"Hey! Give that back you mischievous monkey!" a man shouted, running out of the same hut. The man wore a red Mazuri robe. He looked around frantically, then stomped his feet in frustration, realizing the monkey was gone. "I swear, I'm going to get that monkey someday!"

"Hey! What seems to be the problem?" Sonic called out to the villager.

"This troubling baboon has been entering our village and began stealing the people's possessions." the villager explained. He quickly recognized Sonic. "It's you! Your the blue hedgehog that saved our village from before!" The villager suddenly went down to his knees and bowed in front of Sonic.

"Does he really have to do that?" Yoshi whispered to Tails. The fox wasn't sure.

"Uhm...hey, mind if I ask a question." Sonic asked the villager as he continued to bow to the hedgehog. "Have you seen a glowing emerald of some sort land around here somewhere?"

"I am sorry, but no." the villager answered as he got back onto his feet. "Everyone in the village has been too distressed to even think about anything else at the moment."

"What do you mean? Did anything bad happen?" Mario asked. The villager nodded. He motioned them to follow him. He led the heroes behind the tall Baobab tree in the village. Behind it, was a baby elephant that laid on a soft bed of leaves. Looking over the baby zebra, was a small, young village boy, wearing the same red Mazuri robe and a yellow necklace.

"Hey! A baby elephant!" Yoshi exclaimed. He walked up to the animal and began to pet it. Suddenly, the baby elephant gave out a loud, pained cry from it's trunk, surprising Yoshi. "Whoa! Did I do something wrong?"

"Do not worry, you haven't," the young village boy spoke. He had a sad tone in his voice. "He is just very sick." He suddenly turned to the older villager. "Has anyone found the rare red Baobab fruit, Yawa?"

"I am sorry, Kwod." Yawa answered him. "No one in the village has had any luck finding the fruit. I am afraid Babar will not make it tonight."

"No! You can't say that! You can't!" Kwod suddenly shouted in despair. He went up to the baby elephant and hugged it. "Babar is the life of our village. He brings the children joy and the adults happiness everyday. We can't just let him die. Why can't we use one of _our_ remedies?"

"You know what our village elder said, Kwod." Yawa reminded him. "Babar is ill with a very rare disease. Only the oil of the red Baobab fruit can help heal Babar."

"Why haven't you've found this red fruit thing yet?" Knuckles suddenly asked. Yawa explained the red Baobab fruit is rare and only a few number grow in Mazuri every year. They would be difficult to find in the vast plains and are usually located in hard to reach places.

"Why don't we try finding it?" Sonic asked. "We're in no hurry anyway, and it looks like you really need some help in finding this rare fruit."

"No, please, I do not want to trouble you." Yawa assured them.

"How will this trouble us?" Mario said. "We want to help you, it's what us heroes do. Helping others with their problems." The plumber gave them a reassuring smile. Yawa thought about their offer, and accepted it. "Okie-dokie! Don't worry, we'll find the red Baobab fruit in no time!"

"Thank you so much for your kindness." Yawa said. He was about to bow down to them again when Sonic stopped him.

"The bow is unnecessary. But thanks anyway."

Yawa explained to the heroes the last red Baobab fruit spotted was deep within the Bongo Jungle. It was only a few miles away from Baobab Village. Yawa pointed them in the direction.

"Please, find the red Baobab fruit. Babar really needs it." Kwod pleaded as he continued to hug the baby elephant. The young animal raised it's trunk and gave out another pained cry.

"You can count on us!" Yoshi promised both of them.

The heroes quickly headed out of Baobab Village and began to journey through the plains of Mazuri. The plains were filled with what seemed to be an endless field of wild grass. They could see herds of different animals running across the distance. Sonic had the urge to run with them.

"Man! It's so wide out here! I just wanna race through these plains already." Sonic exclaimed.

"What's stopping you?" Knuckles said to him. "If you wanna run, go run! We can catch up! Just stop blabbering how you want to do it and just _do it!" _Sonic rolled his eyes and smirked at Knuckles. Suddenly, he began speeding forward through the plains at super sonic speed, leaving a smoke of dirt behind him.

"I hope he remembers to wait for us." Yoshi asked. He felt a bit unsure when he spoke his remark.

"Hmm, that seems weird." Tails said. He had his Miles Electric out, pointing the antennae on top towards the sky. Tails was on the Emerald Radar app. On screen, it showed the power of a Chaos Emerald close by. The heroes were gradually getting closer to it. "We seem to be nearing a Chaos Emerald location."

"Where is it?" Mario asked him. He really wanted to know. If they found the Chaos Emerald, then they could use it's power, along with the Chaos Emerald they had, to heal Peach from her comatose state. Tails looked at the coordinates and pointed them towards a distant jungle in the plains.

"Isn't that in the same direction as the red Baobab fruit?" Yoshi reminded them.

"That's a good thing!" Knuckles said. "That makes less work for us. Come on, let's finish our job. After, I wanna see if I can sneak a ride on those zebras!"

The heroes rushed in the direction of the Bongo Jungle. The jungle seemed to be filled with many tall, thick Baobab trees. The jungle laid across a wide area of dirt, the same kind of dirt Baobab Village laid upon. The jungle was so immense in size, the heroes didn't know where to begin their search.

"How are you supposed to find a single, red Baobab fruit in a jungle like this?" Mario pondered to the others. They simply shrugged

"What do you think, Knuckles?" Tails said as he turned towards the echidna. "You're a treasure hunter, so you should be able to find anything in a short amount of time."

"Hey, don't expect me to do all the work." Knuckles began to complain. "The only reason I'm good at finding things is because I can sense their energy nearby, like the Master Emerald. I doubt this red fruit has an energy pulse that I could feel."

"Speaking of energy, has the Emerald Radar located the coordinates of the Chaos Emerald yet?" Mario asked. "Are we getting closer?" Tails looked down to the Miles Electric screen and saw the energy was much stronger than before.

"The Chaos Emerald is definitely getting stronger." Tails said. He pointed into the jungle. "There's no doubt it's somewhere in this jungle. Let's start searching."

As the heroes entered the jungle, the light around them began to fade. The leaves coming out of the trees' branches were crowded enough to block most of the sunlight from entering the forest. It was much cooler under the jungle shade than the hot temperatures of the plains.

"See any red Baobab fruit?" Mario asked them.

"What does a Baobab even look like anyway?" Yoshi questioned. "I've never seen one before. Does it look like a banana?"

"I'm not sure, actually." Knuckles answered. "I'm assuming it has a distinct red color."

"No duh...that's why it's called the _red _Baobab fruit...knucklehead."

"HEY! Take that back!"

"Hold on guys." Tails stopped them. He had his eyes on the Emerald Radar. They had been walking through the jungle for a few minutes already, and yet the energy reading of the Chaos Emerald was beginning to fade away, as if they were getting farther from the Chaos Emerald. "This doesn't seem right."

"What's wrong?" Mario asked. He also looked at the Emerald Radar. "That's weird. Did we pass the Chaos Emerald without noticing?"

"It can't be," Tails said. "the Emerald Radar is still showing the Chaos Emerald is in the same direction as before, but yet we're getting farther away from it. It's as if the Chaos Emerald is _moving _away from us."

"How can that be, anyway?" Knuckles asked. "The Chaos Emerald couldn't have just suddenly grown legs and started walking around everywhere."

"This wouldn't be the first time the Chaos Emerald surprised us." Tails said. "We'd better see where the Emerald radar will lead us." He began leading the others towards the Chaos Emerald's location. The energy continued moving, so the heroes had to increase their pace to catch up with the Chaos Emerald. Soon, the heroes caught up to the location of the Chaos Emerald. They began looking around them, but didn't see any Chaos Emerald.

"I don't see the Chaos Emerald anywhere." Mario said. He sighed. "Are you sure that radar of yours is-a working Tails?"

"I'm sure it does. Look." Tails showed where the Chaos Emerald was located. They were literally on top of it's location. The heroes started to ponder what they could have done wrong, when suddenly they heard a small noise above them. Looking up, they found the same monkey they encountered earlier back at Baobab Village. The monkey was hanging upside-down on a high tree branch with it's tail.

"Hey! It's that crazy monkey from before!" Yoshi exclaimed, pointing up to it. Now having a closer look at the monkey, the heroes could see it had white fur and dark-brown skin. The monkey noticed the heroes below them and hollered down to them. It began to wave at them.

"Wait a minute...what's that in it's hand?" Mario said, noticing an object in the monkey's other hand. The object seemed to be red and was in a round shape. "Could that be the red Baobab fruit?"

"It must be!" Yoshi said. He began sniffing the air. He remembered the sweet fruit aroma back at Baobab Village. The aroma had come from the object the monkey was holding. "There's no doubt the monkey has some sort of fruit in it's hand."

"Well then, I guess we gotta get it now." Knuckles said. "Don't worry guys, I'll handle it." He began to shout up to the monkey. "HEY! GIVE US THAT RED BAOBAB FRUIT IN YOUR HAND, OR ELSE!" The monkey simply looked down at him with a confused look.

"I don't think he can understand you." Tails said.

"I guess I'll have to speak a_ different_ language then." Knuckles said. He walked up towards the trunk of the tree the monkey was hanging on and began climbing it. With his claw-like knuckles, it gave the echidna the ability to climb up almost any surface. Knuckles quickly reached the same branch the monkey was hanging off of. Suddenly, Knuckles began to shake the branch viciously, hoping the monkey would fall off. "Come on! Give us the fruit!"

"What are you doing, Knuckles!" Yoshi shouted up to him. "That's no way to treat a monkey!"

Knuckles ignored his comment and continued trying to shake the monkey off the branch. The monkey seemed to have an amazing grip with it's tail, as it would not fall off the branch no matter how hard Knuckles shook. Knuckles stopped shaking in frustration. "Come on! All we want is the fruit!"

The monkey would not listen to Knuckles. Instead, it began to stare at the echidna with an angry look. Apparently, it wasn't too fond of Knuckles trying to shake it off the branch. In a split second, the monkey screeched loudly and quickly swung itself towards Knuckles. It knocked the echidna off the tree, causing Knuckles to fall hard onto the ground.

"YEEOW! Why that crazy monkey is going to pay!" Knuckles shouted in rage as he quickly got back to his feet. He looked up to the monkey and shook his fist at it. The monkey gave out a laugh and began to swing through the trees, fleeing from the heroes.

"Come on, we can't let that monkey get away!" Tails told the others. He quickly began propelling his tails and flew after the monkey. Mario and Yoshi began to give chase, while Knuckles followed, grumbling something to himself about monkeys always causing trouble.

The heroes were surprised the monkey could swing through the trees at a swift speed. They had almost lost sight of the monkey a few times before realizing where it was by it's loud screeching noises it continued making.

"How are we going to catch this monkey?" Yoshi called out to the others as he continued running after it.

"It's-a time to handle things differently!" Mario answered back. With quick reflexes, Mario ran up the trunk of a tree and jumped off it, landing onto another tree and jumping off that one as well. He continued doing this until he reached the treetops. He began to swing after the monkey, now being able to see where the monkey would go next.

The monkey stopped onto a small branch and looked back, seeing Mario swinging after it. It gave him a mocking face and screeched back at the plumber. The monkey was about to resume swing when the branch under if suddenly broke. The monkey began to screech in panick as it began to fall towards the ground.

"Someone, catch him!" Yoshi shouted. Tails tried flying towards the falling monkey, but missed. It seemed like the monkey would suffer a painful landing from the great fall, but suddenly a blue blur caught the monkey mid-fall. The two landed in a nearby bush. The heroes rushed up to where the monkey and the blur landed.

"You gotta be careful next time." Sonic spoke to the monkey as he climbed out of the bush, with the monkey holding tightly on his head. It was pretty shocked from the sudden fall, but was relieved it was okay.

"Well, look who decided to show up." Knuckles said in an annoyed voice. He sort of wished the monkey had splat on the ground from what it did to the echidna earlier.

"Sorry I took so long," Sonic apologized. "Would have been here sooner, but Mazuri was much bigger than I expected for me to run a whole lap around the continent." The others gave him an annoyed look. Sonic simply smiled, then looked up to the monkey on his head. "I expect this guy has something that we need."

"Yeah! He has the red Baobab fruit we need to cure the baby elephant." Yoshi said.

The monkey knew what the heroes were talking about. Reluctantly, it handed them the red Baobab fruit it was holding. It jumped off of Sonic's head and bowed it's head to them. It was the monkey's way of apologizing to them. It began to slowly walk away from them, heading back to where it had come from.

"Well, that was easy." Sonic said. looking at the red Baobab fruit in his hand. "I guess we should head back to the village and give them the fruit. They'll be glad they can finally heal that Babar elephant of theirs'."

The heroes nodded. They began to head back to Baobab Village when Tails suddenly remembered about the Emerald Radar and the Chaos Emerald location. He looked at his Miles Electric and noticed the Chaos Emerald was surprisingly near them. He looked to the direction to where it was and noticed it was pointing towards the monkey, who continued away from them. He soon realized where the Chaos Emerald really was. "Sonic! That monkey has the Chaos Emerald!"

As if it had been expecting it, the monkey suddenly began running away from the heroes. It knew they wanted the Chaos Emerald, but the monkey wanted it for itself.

"Darn! The monkey almost got away with it!" Knuckles growled.

"Here, you and Yoshi take the red Baobab fruit and give it to the baby elephant." Sonic instructed Tails. "Me, Mario and Knuckles will get the Chaos Emerald from the monkey. Hurry!" Tails nodded and motioned Yoshi to follow him. The two quickly headed out of Bongo Jungle and headed their way back to Baobab Village.

"Get back here, you crazy monkey!" Mario shouted to the monkey. The monkey began swinging deeper through the jungle. The three heroes began to give chase once again. They chased the monkey throughout the jungle, until they had reached an area where a huge, tall wall made out of sand suddenly appeared near the edge of the jungle. It appeared to be part of a huge citadel. The monkey used the tree branches to swing over the wall.

"What is this?" Knuckles asked as they stopped to inspect the wall. He knocked on the wall, wondering what was on the other side.

"It must be the Savannah Citadel." Sonic answered. "I remember passing through here once or twice while I was journeying through Mazuri before." Sonic explained the citadel was a large fortress made out of mud and sand.

"We can't let that monkey get away." Mario reminded them. "It has the Chaos Emerald! We need it so we can save Peach." Determined to get the Chaos Emerald, Mario suddenly backed up from the wall and gave a mighty jump. He reached the top of the wall and climbed into the Savannah Citadel.

Sonic quickly followed and ran up the wall, entering the citadel. Knuckles scaled up the wall and followed close behind, determined to help catch the monkey that made a fool of himself.

Unaware to the heroes, they were in for a bigger surprised behind that very wall.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes have found the next Chaos Emerald! But it seems this troublesome monkey is making things harder for them than it has to be. Will they be able to catch that monkey? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

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**Author Notes: Chapter complete! I need to be honest at this point. I feel like I haven't written the best this chapter could be. I sort of slacked off writing this chapter, so don't be surprised if it doesn't have the top-notch quality the other chapters have. I finished this chapter half past eleven on Friday, and I'm totally beat.**

**This whole chapter takes place in Mazuri. It's a very cool interpretation of the real-life Africa. Didn't you just love drifting Sonic through the wide plains section of the level? I did! Climbing up that giant tree was pretty fun in my opinion. And the upbeat, bongo music made it more amazing.**

**The names of the Baobab Villagers are based on the names from the actual game. This will recur in future chapters, where the heroes will meet different people from around the Sonic world universe. **

**I wonder if people will find out where I got the name for the sick baby elephant. (hint: it's the title of a children's cartoon I happened to watch every so often when I was a kid)**

**Heheh, it seems like people didn't appreciate how Sonic was acting previous chapter. He's still fifteen, isn't he? He still has a LOT to learn you know.**

**Thanks for reading this chapter! And thanks for the support everyone has brought to me. You guys rock! Check my profile for any updates on my stories. And see my DAILY BLOG section to see what's going on in my life. Bye for now! :D**

_**-Azurixx**_

******__************__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	53. Citadel Chaos!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 53: Citadel Chaos!**_

* * *

_**Mazuri, Inside the Savannah Citadel**_

The sun was beating down on the large, Savannah Citadel, which was located in the wide-open plains of Mazuri. The citadel was a fortress built by the people of Mazuri in case a great danger fell upon them. The Savannah Citadel held many tall, sand buildings and consisted of narrow pathways and arches.

In the meantime, Mario, Sonic and Knuckles were wandering through the Savannah Citadel. They searched vigorously for this mischievous monkey that happened to steal the Chaos Emerald away from them.

"Where could that monkey have gotten to?" Sonic asked as they continued walking through one of the alleys of the citadel. "I'm not really in the mood to play hide-and-seek, ya know."

"It couldn't have strayed too far away from us." Mario said. "I'm not going to let that monkey get away that easily from us. We need that Chaos Emerald." He looked to the ground, remembering their mission. "Peach needs that Chaos Emerald..."

"Why don't we try splitting up?" Knuckles suggested. "Do you know how huge this sand castle even is? We can cover more ground if we each look in different directions."

"Knuckles, you do realize whenever we split up, something terribly happens to one of us. That's a guaruntee." Sonic stated. Knuckles was about to argue back, but quickly knew that Sonic was right.

The heroes quickly resumed their search for the monkey. They peeked into every building they came across, turned their heads at every corner and even searched through thr various baskets found on the sides of the paths. But they had no luck finding that monkey

"Ugh! This is harder than finding a needle in a haystack!" Sonic began to complain. He began to regret a few things. "We probably should have asked Tails for the emerald radar before he left us."

"That would've been smart." Knuckles agreed.

"Like you know_ smart_." Mario joked with him. Knuckles started shouting at the plumber.

"HEY! STOP MAKING FUN OF ME!"

"Alright guys, stop barking at each other." Sonic said, trying to get them to focus. "There's still a chance that monkey is somewhere in this citadel. Now-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the heroes suddenly heard a loud boom, followed by a panicked screech. They recognized what emitted the screech. It was the monkey, and it sounded like it was in trouble.

"I heard the noise in this direction. Let's-a go!" Mario said as he began to lead them towards the abrupt ruckus.

The heroes rushed through the pathways of the Savannah Citadel until they came across a long alley leading to a dead end. At the end of the alley, was the monkey, with it's back against the wall. It had a terrified look on it's face. It was no surprise, as it was cornered by a large robot, staring intimidatingly at it.

The robot was clearly big in size, as it seemed to almost appear squished inside the narrow alley. It was painted a turqiouse color. It had a sphere body and two more spheres that were it's shoulders. Big, mechsnicsl arms portruded from the shoulder spheres. The robot showed the ability to float in the air. It's back was against the heroes, so luckily they weren't spotted by it.

"What is that thing?" Knuckles whispered to the others. He looked behind him, realizing that Mario and Sonic were hiding behind a corner, not wanting to be spotted by the large robot. Knuckles was slightly amused. "Hey! What are you guys doing? Are you scared?"

"Shhh!" Sonic shushed at Knuckles. "You do know that is a large robot, don't you? The last thing we need is for that thing to try attacking us." Knuckles rolled his eyes and joined them.

"Okay, first off, why is there a big robot here in the first place?" Mario asked the two of them. "Does this always happen in your world? Is it filled with a whole bunch of death machines?"

"Makes me wish that my world was filled with_ mindless walking turtles_." Sonic joked. "But on another note, the only explanation I have is that robot is one of Eggman's robots."

"But how did it get here?" Knuckles asked. "Isn't Eggman still stuck back in SMario's world?" Sonic and Mario shrugged. The last time they saw Eggman was when he fell into the lava of Bowser's volcano, seemingly doomed to a disasterous fate. They were as clueless as Knuckles was.

"Wait a minute...listen." Mario told them, perking his ear towards a sound. The others began to listen quietly. Not one, but two mysterious voices came from the same direction as where the robot and monkey were.

"What the- when could the robot and monkey talk?" Knuckles asked in a surprised voice.

"It's not them, knucklehead!" Sonic corrected him. He peeked back into the alley, realizing the sources of the voice. Now with the robot and monkey, were two smaller, floating robots. One had a distinct round body, while the other had a cube-shape. They were painted red and yellow, respectively. / Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Those two? What are they doing here?" Mario asked who it was. Sonic pointed to the other robots. It was Eggman's "trusty" robot duo: Orbot and Cubot.

"Ooh! Look at this monkey!" Cubot exclaimed. His voice had a tone of child-like cheerfulness. A little too much cheerfulness. "Gee, this monkey looks really funny. Can we keep him as a pet? Can we can we can we?"

"I'm not sure if the doctor would appreciate having a monkey jumping around his laboratory" Orbot stated. His voice was much calmer, more dignified compared to Cubot's.

"Aww nuts and bolts!" Cubot said disappointingly. "Oh well, at least we have this shiny emerald the monkey happened to drop." Cubot held up a yellow jewel in his hand. It was none other than the Yellow Chaos Emerald.

"The Chaos Emerald!" Mario suddenly exclaimed. Sonic and Knuckles quickly tried shushing the plumber, but it was too late. Unfortunately, Orbot had heard them.

"Why is that...Sonic?" Orbot questioned as he saw them. Cubot turned to see the heroes peeking around the corner of the alley.

"Well that's a surprise! I thought they'd disappeared a_ loooong_ time ago. Sort of the same time as the doctor!" Cubot said. He waved at the heroes. "Hello there! We can see you!"

"I have a feeling that yellow robot isn't too bright." Mario whispered.

"Well, at least we know he and Knuckles will get along quite well." Sonic joked once again. Mario chuckled at the statement, while Knuckles simply crossed his arms, giving them both an annoyed look.

"So, what might the fastest hedgehog be doing here after disappearing from the face of the planet for quite some time, hm?" Orbot asked. He scratched his chin. expressing his interest on what might Sonic would say.

"I'm wondering the exact same thing with you guys," Sonic asked the robots. "Did Eggman happen to send you guys to search for some emeralds as well?" He pointed to the Yellow Chaos Emerald in Cubot's hand.

"We have no idea what you're talking about." Cubot explained. "We haven't seen the doctor for almost a whole month! I think he went on a vacation or something without telling us."

"If that was the case, I wouldn't be surprised he wouldn't inform you two _metalheads_." Knuckles chuckled at his own joke. Mario and Sonic gave him a cold stsre, signalling that it was the best time for jokes.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you," Orbot warned them. He floated back to the bigger robot behind them and patted it on the back. The robot turned towards the heroes, giving the heroes a better look at it. On each sphere, there appeared to be laser cannons perked in the middle. In total, there were three laser cannons.

"I see where this is going," Sonic quickly stretched and took his battle position. "Before we have an epic fight, mind telling me why you three kind robots are here?"

"Uhm...what do you expect us to do while our boss was away?" Orbot asked him. He sounded a bit hesitant to answer. "We robots need to have a little fun as well, you know."

"I came up with the idea of travelling around the world!" Cubot suddenly exclaimed as he raised his hand in the air. "Orbot wanted to come along, and I felt bad for leaving Interceptor back in the lab, so I let him join us! Aren't I a good friend?"

"You're the best friend anyone could ever have." Sonic spoke, sneaking in one last sarcastic remark.

In a split second, the Interceptor robot threw both of it's mechanical hands towards the heroes. The three dodged the attack in time. Sonic answered back with a quick Homing Attack on the robot's main sphere body. Unfortunately, it didn't do much damage.

"We'll leave you three on your own while we find a safe place to keep our Chaos Emerald." Orbot spoke. He and Cubot began to float out of the citadel alley, with Cubot waved excitedly bsck at them.

"Hey! Get back here!" Mario called out to them. He quicklt wall-jumped between the alley walls, On his last jump, he exerted enough force to reach Cubot, grabbing onto the robot's lower body in the air.

"Whoa! Easy there, buddy! I'm pretty fragile!" Cubot shouted to Mario. He tried shaking the plumber off him, but his grip was too strong. Mario was determined to get the Chaos Emerald from the robot.

"Hold on, Cubot, I'll shake this moustached man off you." Orbot floated towards them and grabbed Mario's legs, trying to pull him off of Cubot. Mario held tightly onto Cubot, still not letting go.

Back inside the Savannah Citadel, an intense battle was occurring between Sonic, Knuckles and the Interceptor. The large robot began to shoot powerful blue lasers towards the heroes, but they swiftly dodged the attacks. For every laser attack shot, it hit parts of the citadel, slowly destroying the buildings.

"If that robot keeps this up, it'll end up destroying the whole citadel!" Sonic shouted towards Knuckles. He jumped over another laser attack, which hit part of the alley wall, breaking part of it and leaving a huge hole.

"What do you have in mind, then?" Knuckles shouted back. Sonic began to think for a moment. His eyes suddenly went on the monkey, who was still trapped between the dead end and the Intercepter. It was cowering down, terrified from the great ordeal happening.

"We need to get that monkey out of danger first." Sonic explained to Knuckles. "You distract the Intercepter while I go for the monkey."

"Got it!" Knuckles assured him, giving Sonic a thumbs-up in the process. He began to wave both of his hands at the Interceptor, trying to get it's attention. "Hey! I bet you're too slow to catch me!"

The Interceptor saw his taunt and quickly shot another laser towards him. Knuckles quickly dodged it by jumping into the air. He grabbed onto the alley wall and began climbing up it. The Intercepter began following him, continuing to shoot him down, allowing Sonic to quickly sneak by and pick up the monkey.

"Let's get you out of here." Sonic spoke to the monkey, as it began to climb onto his back. "I have a feeling you'll think twice when stealing from others after this situation." Sonic sped his way out of the Savannah Citadel, find a safe place for the monkey to hide.

Meanwhile, back in the air above the citadel, Orbot was still trying to pull Mario away from Cubot. He grunted with effort as he pulled on Mario's legs. "My, aren't you a persistant one!"

"Give me the emerald! I really need it!" Mario demanded.

"What do you need the Chaos Emeralds for, anyway?" Cubot asked as he continued trying to shake the plumber off. "Can't you learn to share like others? Don't be like Sonic and take them all for yourselves!"

"You don't understand!" Mario began to explain. "Someone I care about needs them! This is a life or death situation. Please, just listen to me!"

"I'm sure you can adjust not having them in your life anymore." Orbot tried to reason with him. "We see a lot of our robot bretheren be destroyed everyday, but we're able to live with it, right Cubot?"

"Absolutely!" Cubot agreed. "You'll hardly remember them afterwards. I had this Motobug as a friend, before he got destroyed. But I hardly ever miss him. Actually, I don't think I even had a Motobug as my friend..." Mario simply ignored the robot's reasons. Clearly, they didn't understand the important bond between two people's special friendship.

The three continued their struggle in the air, but it didn't last long when suddenly, one of the Interceptor's laser accidently hit the three. It knocked them all out of the air, causing them to fall back towards the citadel. The three landed in an open area of the citadel, while the Yellow Chaos Emerald landed on top of one of the buildings.

"Mamamia...that hurt." Mario groaned. He looked around for the Chaos Emerald, seeing where it landed. He rushed towards it's direction. Orbot saw him and quickly chased after him.

The two raced towards the emerald. Mario jumped across the citadel buildings, while Orbot floated through the air as fast as he could. It was a close match, but Mario was much faster. He snatched up the Yellow Chaos Emerald and rushed his way to the edge of the building top.

"Boo!" Cubot shouted, suddenly popping out from the side of the building. He tried grabbing Mario, but the plumber reacted by jumping on top of the robot's head and hopping off it. He directed himself into another citadel alley, sliding down the wall and began to run through the alley.

"My! That plumber is as versatile as that hedgehog." Orbot spoke in amazement. Cubot ignored his comment, instead whining how Mario stepped on his head.

Mario continued running through the citadel alley, leading into another open area. He looked at the Yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand, relieved to finally have the required energy to heal Peach fom her coma. Now, all he needed to do was to get back with the others.

_BOOM!_

A sudden force from behind Mario knocked him forward, causing him to fly in thr air and land hard on the ground. He lost grip of the Yellow Chaos Emerald, which landed a few feet away from him. Mario crawled towards it, but was stopped by the Interceptor, who blocked him with it's hand.

"Uhoh!" Mario gasped. The Interceptor had him right where it wanted him. It prepared to shoot all three laser cannons at the plumber, when suddenly it was interrupted.

"Hey! Why'd you run off like that?" Knuckles shouted to the Interceptor. The robot turned up to the echidna, who was standing on one of the citadel building tops. Knuckles grinned and suddenly jumped towards the Interceptor. He gave out a loud grunt and threw a powerful punch at the Interceptors head, knocking it backwards. The Interceptor landed on the ground, giving out a loud bang.

"Hah! Did you see that?" Knuckles said as he helped Mario up. "It's about time I did something cool like that! That my friend, is how you throw a punch!" Mario simply nodded back to him.

Unfortunately, their victory was short-lived, as the Interceptor quickly floated back into the air, shaking the punch as if it was nothing. It raised both of it's arms into the air and smashed them into the ground, creating a shockwave and knocking Mario and Knuckles into a nearby wall.

"Gah! Hey! That's not fair! You were supposed to lose!" Knuckles argued. He tried to get up from where they landed, but the attack had gravely injured them. They were too weak to move.

It seemed like the Interceptor had won. It prepared all three laser cannons again and was prepared to finish off the two. Just as it was about to shoot them, a voice shouted from above. The Interceptor looked up, seeing who it was.

"Get away from them!" Tails shouted from above. He, along with Sonic and Yoshi, flew down towards the Savannah Citadel in the Tornado 2. Tails pushed a switch on his dashboard, popping out the Volkan Cannon in the front. He began to shoot at the Interceptor with powerful gun shots, causing damage to the Interceptor. Sparks began to fly out of the Interceptor. Realizing it couldn't take anymore damage without breaking down, the robot decided to flee from the Savannah Citadel. It rocketed into the sky and flew away.

"Woohoo! Nice going, Tails!" Yoshi cheered from the passanger seat. Sonic was standing on the back of the plane ans gave Tails a thumbs-up. Tails smiled and piloted the plane down to where Mario and Knuckles were.

"Gee, you guys came in the nick of time." Knuckles said, thanking them. They helped him and Mario up. "That robot was a pain to handle. It's like it's indestructible or something."

"You're lucky Sonic rushed back to the village and told us what happened." Yoshi explained. "Although, he did ruin my fruit buffet with the baby elephant.

"Speaking of the elephant, is it alright?" Knuckles asked. Tails nodded. He explained once they fed the oil of the red Baobab fruit, the baby elephant instantly recovered from it's sickness and began acting as it never was sick.

"Onto other business, did you guys happen to get the Chaos Emerald back from Orbot and Cubot?" Sonic reminded them.

"It should be over there." Mario pointed to where he'd dropped the Yellow Chaos Emerald. Surprisingly, it wasn't there. "Huh! Where's the Chaos Emerald?" Mario said in panic. He looked desperately around the area, but he couldn't find the Chaos Emerald. "I was sure it was there a minute ago."

"According to my Miles Electric, it appears to have disappeared." Tails stated. "It's not receiving any traces of the chaos energy from where we are."

"But that's impossible!" Mario spoke in disbelief. "It was right there! It coulen't have just disappeared! Where could it have gone to?"

"Maybe Orbot and Cubot happened to steal it while we were taking care of the Interceptor." Sonic suggested. "I can't believe they got away with it. How could we not have seen it?"

"I don't know. But without that Chaos Emerald, we won't be able to heal Peach." Yoshi reminded them. He gave a sad look. The others were troubled as well. Especially Mario. How were they going to wake Peach from her coma now?

"We'll have to think of something soon." Tails said. "But for now, we need to take a break. It's already close to sunset." He pointed to the sun, which was almost setting near the horizon. The heroes agreed with him. They all climbed onto the Tornado 2 and flew back to Baobab Village.

The heroes arrived back in the village by sunset. The soothing, orange glow of the sun gave the Mazuri plains a calm, relaxing atmosphere. Things in Baobab Village seemed to be much better than before, now that the baby elephant, Babar, was now well.

"I cannot show enough of my gratitude for helping us get Babar back to his feet." Yawa thanked the heroes as he bowed to them. The heroes felt it was weird for someone to bow to them, but they allowed Yawa to.

"If it wasn't for you, Babar wouldn't be here right now." Kwod said. He was riding on Babar. The baby elephant gave out a happy cry with it's trunk. It began to march around the village with Kwod, who happily enjoyed the ride.

"Please, accept this as our thank-you gift." Yawa said as he handed the heroes a large fruit basket. Yoshi was astonished at how much variety of fruit was stuffed in the basket.

"Gee, thanks." Sonic said as he took the fruit basket. "And we hope the monkey won't cause any more trouble in your village."

"I'm sure it won't ever again." Yawa assured as he turned back to one of the huts. The monkey was playing around with the village children. It was happy to have a few companions to have fun with. It had learned it's lesson that it didn't need to steal from others in order to get their attention.

The heroes decided to spend the night near Baobab Village. Setting up camp near the village, they took a well-deserved rest. The heroes sat around a small campfire. Well, almost all of them.

"Hey guys! Look at me!" Knuckles exclaimed as he slowly rode on the back of a zebra. The zebra was a bit irritated by him and kicked him off it's back, gallopimg away from the echidna. Knuckles slowly got up and shook a fist at the fleeing zebra. "Hey! That was mean!"

"You were probably too rough," Yoshi told Knuckles. "Believe me, if someone were fooling around on my saddle, I wouldn't hesitate to kick them off."

"I can't believe we lost the Chaos Emerald," Mario spoke softly. He sighed. "Now how are we going to heal Peach?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll be able to find another Chaos Emerald in no time." Sonic tried to assure him. He was holding his hands out towards the campfire, feeling the warmth. Tails was sitting beside him, already tinkering with his Miles Electric.

"I might be able to strengthen the signal of the emerald radar' making it easier for us to find Chaos Emeralds." Tails said. "It might take me a while to figure out a procedure in doing that though. And I don't have much of my tools with me anyway."

"So where are we going next?" Yoshi asked as he and Knuckles joined the three beside the fire. "Where do we go to find the next Chaos Emerald?"

"We're just going to have to follow where the wind takes us," Sonic said. "we can only hope it points us in the right direction."

"Let's hope your right," Mario added. He looked up to the sky, seeing it filled with an endless amount of stars. He closed his eyes, praying that in the end, his friends would all be safe.

_This adventure is going to be tougher than I thought._

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The Chaos Emerald has been stolen! Did Orbot and Cubot really steal it? What was there purpose being in Mazuri in the first place? And will the heroes be able to heal Peach soon? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

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**Author Notes: Chapter complete! First off, I didn't expect many of you to have known the origin of the baby elephant's name. I thought I'd be the only one, but I was pleasantly surprised by the feedback. Cool!**

**If you don't know what the Intercepter robot is, it's the same mini-boss used in Sonic Unleashed. Remember the robot that constantly chased you through the levels? That's the same robot I used in this story, only this time it's playing a larger role. As well as Orbot and Cubot. I hope many of you were looking forward to seeing them in this story. **

**I'm going to hype up what the next chapter will be about. Let's say it will take a different approach on character perspective. What do I mean by that? You'll see next chapter.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read this chapter, and thanks for all the support you guys have given me. You are the best! Make sure to check my profile for updates and such on my stories. Also, check my DAILY BLOG to see what I'm up to in my social life.**

**P.S. I forgot to say this last week, but Happy Valentines Day! I know I'm late for this, but at least I said it. Bye for now! :D**

_**-Azurixx**_

******__************__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	54. Shadow of the Night!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 54: Shadow of the Night!**_

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_**Spagonia, Up on the rooftops**_

It was a calm night down in the streets of Spagonia. The city was located on the same land mass as Apotos. It consists of many buildings, cathedrals and a large clock tower. There was a large aqueduct that ran through the whole city. Spagonia is known for being the world's art capital and holds a university for people who are in search for knowledge. Spagonia once housed the laboratory of the famous Professor Pickle, until he moved it to Shamar.

Right now, the streets were eerily quiet at the time. The moon shone down atop the city. Lights from the buildings illuminated the dark streets. Most of the citizens were inside their homes, either asleep or enjoying the peaceful night. Nothing could disturb the tranquil atmosphere placed among Spagonia. Except...

"So...this is where the Chaos Emerald is supposed to be located?" Luigi whispered to Metal Sonic. The two were standing on one of the building rooftops, overlooking the streets. At the moment, Luigi was wearing a different attire from his usual green cap and overalls. This time, he was wearing a completely black jumpsuit. A green bandana was tied around his neck. Luigi had a black mask covering his face. He wasn't wearing his trademark green cap, which hid his identity as Luigi. The reason he changed his attire was in case they encountered the heroes. Metal Sonic knew if they saw Luigi working with him, the heroes would do anything to get him back.

"According to this emerald radar, yes, the Chaos Emerald should be here somewhere in this city." Metal Sonic responded. He had the emerald radar he stole back at Tails' laboratory in his hand. When the two had entered the city, the coordinates had gotten stronger. There was no doubt the Chaos Emerald was here somewhere.

"Well, where do you suppose it's_ exact_ location is?" Luigi asked. He spread his hands out towards the city. "This place is really big. How are we supposed to find _one _Chaos Emerald out here?"

"You do remember I have an emerald radar right here." Metal Sonic reminded him, pointing to the gadget in his hand. Luigi gave an embarrassed grin. Metal Sonic handed him the emerald radar, trusting that he could lead them to the Chaos Emerald. "When we get close to the emerald's location, the radar will begin beeping rapidly. Remember that now."

"Got it!" Luigi assured him. He inspected the gadget for a few seconds, familiarizing it's functions. "Seems simple enough. No need for an instruction manual. Now let's go find an emerald!"

Luigi swiftly jumped into the alley below, landing perfectly on his feet. Metal Sonic followed closely behind him. They began sneaking through the dark alleys of Spagonia. Luigi kept a close eye on the emerald radar, seeing whether the coordinates would get stronger or weaker. The two decided earlier to avoid suspicion from the townspeople, they make sure no one saw them. Whenever they'd come across someone, they'd either hide in the shadows or behind an object.

It had been a half hour after the two started searching, but unfortunately, they had no luck in finding the Chaos Emerald. Luigi sighed in disappointment.

"Are you sure this thing is working?" Luigi asked Metal Sonic about the emerald radar. "This thing isn't picking up the energy of the Chaos Emerald. I think one time the signal had gotten weaker."

"Let us try going above ground," Metal Sonic suggested. "We'll get a much stronger signal up on the rooftops." Luigi nodded. He wall-jumped between the building alleys, making it to the rooftop with ease. Metal Sonic hovered his way to the top. As the robot predicted, the radar's signal had gotten stronger. Luigi checked to where the radar was pointing at.

"Over there!" Luigi exclaimed as he pointed to the big clock tower that stuck out of the whole city. "The Chaos Emerald must be somewhere in that clock tower! Let's go!"

The two ran across the buildings to reach the clock tower. They jumped down near it's entrance. The signal was still the same as before. Luigi pointed the radar towards the rooftop of the clock tower, causing the signal to become stronger. "The emerald must be somewhere at the top. How are we going to get up there?"

"We take the stairs. Simple enough." Metal Sonic said. He walked up to the doors of the clock tower, finding them to be locked. Without saying a word, Metal Sonic charged up a laser from his cannon on his body and shot out a powerful laser from it, destroying the doors.

"I would have knocked, but your way is much better." Luigi joked as he walked into the clock tower. Metal Sonic followed him inside. The clock tower was empty at the moment. There were no other occupants, as far as the two knew. Inside the main floor of the clock tower was the elevator and stairway that led to the top of the clock tower. There was an opening in the middle of the main room, where you could look up and see the clock tower's gears.

"It looks like the elevator is broken down," Luigi said as he noticed as sign on the elevators doors, which read, "OUT OF SERVICE". He turned to the stairway, seeing it's doors were locked too. "Well, great. How are we supposed to get to the top now?"

"You always look for the simple solutions, do you, Luigi?" Metal Sonic stated. The robot suddenly activated it's jets and rocketed his way up to the top of the clock tower through the opening, which lead through the gears. Luigi sighed, hoping for a better, _easier_ solution. He began to jump up his way through the gears, making acrobatic jumps and flips through the gears. He got to the top of the clock tower with ease. He looked around him, seeing the bigger gears of the clock tower in the middle of the room. There were hanging floorboards, allowing people to walk around the gears. On all four walls, were the huge clocks of the tower.

"Wow, this looks amazing." Luigi said in awe as he took the moment to gaze around the room. "Gee, I wonder where they get the spare parts for this thing. You wouldn't be able to bring this _giant_ into a repair shop." He looked around for Metal Sonic. He noticed the robot hiding behind one of the gears. "Hey, metal!" He rushed up behind the robot.

"Quiet!" Metal Sonic demanded. He pointed over to near the corner of the room. Luigi looked and saw what he was pointing at. There were two other people in the clock tower with them. And one of them was holding the Green Chaos Emerald!

"Who are they?" Luigi asked, crouching down beside Metal Sonic. The robot didn't answer him, but he did recognize the two people. One of them was another hedgehog. He looked a bit like Sonic, but his quills pointed out in wild, yet fashionable directions. His fur was both black with red stripes. He had shoes that appeared to be rollarskates. With the hedgehog, was a bat. She wore a skintight black jumpsuit, with a pink heart design over her upper body and white boots. Her wings stuck out from behind.

_What are those two doing here? _Metal Sonic wondered to himself. _And what are they doing with the Chaos Emerald?_

"Do you know why the Chaos Emerald suddenly appeared out of nowhere?" Shadow asked Rouge. The bat was holding the Green Chaos Emerald in her hand, admiring it's beauty.

"I'm not sure," Rouge answered back to him. "It's sort of a mystery. I still don't have an explanation on why the Chaos Emeralds disappeared in the first place. It's like one day they were taken off the face of the planet, and now the next day the reappear out of nowhere."

"I'm assuming someone attempted to use them for their own deeds." Shadow began to explain. "There is no reason the Chaos Emerald would disappear by themselves. Someone would have needed to activate it's powers into doing whatever they needed them for. I only wonder who they were...or what they were planning."

"At least we have this little gem in our hands." Rouge said. As a thief, Rouge loved treasure. She would do anything to have all the world's treasures for herself. The Chaos Emeralds were no exception. "Now that we found this Chaos Emerald, I'm positive the rest have appeared as well. All we need to do is find them. You know how _glorious_ these babies look, especially when you have all seven of them together."

"Whatever," Shadow said in his usual monotone voice. "Having all seven Chaos Emeralds would deem someone powerful. Not that_ I_ need the Chaos Emeralds for show off _my _strength. It's best if we find them first, before anyone else has a chance to overtake their power and use them against people, like _me_."

"You just love being the strongest, don't you? Nothing would upset you more if you found someone else stronger than you, hm?" Rouge teased him. "What about Sonic? Isn't he the only one that could ever hold a fight with you?"

"Hmph! All that hedgehog worries about is having fun." Shadow stated. He and Sonic seemed to have some sort of rivalry as to who was the better hedgehog. Sonic didn't take it as serious as Shadow does, only seeing it as a friendly matchup. But to Shadow, it seemed like a competition to determine who was the strongest in the _entire _world. "But I'll admit, his strength and speed _is _slightly par to my own. But I _am _the ultimate lifeform..."

Suddenly, a loud beeping noise emitted from the room. Luigi panicked, as the emerald radar had just picked up the signal of the Chaos Emerald and began flashing loudly. Luigi tried to shut it off, but he didn't know how to. "Gah! Shutupshutupshutup!" Metal Sonic quickly scolded him to turn off the radar before they were caught, but it was too late...

"What is that?" Rouge asked, looking around the room curiously.

"Someone is here with us..." Shadow said assertively. He also began looking around the room with caution.

"Drat! They know we're here..." Luigi spoke in a panicked voice. He grumbled at the emerald radar in frustration. "Now what are we supposed to do? Should we just run and look for another Chaos Emerald?"

"NO!" Metal Sonic suddenly shouted at him. "Do you know how much effort I've put into finding the Chaos Emerald's before? I had to struggle to find them all myself. I'm not going to let those two _pathetic _creatures stop our plan in ultimate power! I won't!" Suddenly, Metal Sonic began to charge his laser cannon. In a swift motion, he jumped out of hiding and fired the laser blast towards Shadow and Rouge. Quickly reacting, Shadow took the Chaos Emerald from Rouge's hand and used it's energy to fire a yellow, energy of Chaos Spear back at the laser blast, destroying it in thin air and creating a small explosion of energy.

"It's you! Metal Sonic!" Shadow shouted, quickly recognizing the robot.

"My, I haven't seen_ that_ robot in a long time." Rouge stated. "I wonder what it's doing here anyway."

"He's most likely here to steal the Chaos Emerald." Shadow explained to her. "The robot may have been part of the reason why they disappeared in the first place." He turned to Metal Sonic and gave him an antagonizing glare. Metal Sonic simply stared back at him with his glowing, red eyes. "I'm assuming the doctor is here as well."

"Actually, _I'm_ with him!" Luigi suddenly jumped out of hiding and showed himself to both Shadow and Rouge. He stood proudly, with his hand to his hips. Metal Sonic rolled his eyes. So much for his back-up plan for Luigi to initiate a sneak attack.

"Who are you?" Shadow asked him, in an uninterested voice.

"I am...uhm..." Luigi tried thinking of a name to hide his real identity. "I...am the Green Shadow! Yeah! That's me! I am the elusive, sneaky shadow of the night, who comes out when you least expect it! And as an added note, I looking much dashing in green, do you agree?" He was pulling off a grin while fixing his green bandana around his neck.

"He's really full of himself." Rouge commented. Shadow nodded, agreeing with her. Luigi slapped himself in the forehead, feeling like no one would understand him.

"Th-that's not the point," Luigi stammered. He pointed to the Chaos Emerald in Shadow's hand. "The reason we're here is for that Chaos Emerald in your hand. Now, if you'd be so kind to hand it over to us, please do." Of course, Shadow denied and asked why they needed the Chaos Emerald for. "Uhm...I don't really remember, actually. Ask this guy." He pointed to Metal Sonic beside him.

"It's none of you business," Metal Sonic told the two. "If you do not want any harm to come before you, I suggest you hand over the Chaos Emerald to us now, or else."

"I'm not scared of you," Shadow spoke. "I am the ultimate lifeform. You think I'm afraid by a_ useless_ machine like you? If you did attempt to harm us, what power do you harness to defeat us? _I_ have the energy of the Chaos Emerald. All you have is your _weak _guns and...that guy." He pointed to Luigi, causing him to pout.

"Why don't I show you?" Metal Sonic offered in a demonic voice. Suddenly, he charged another laser blast and shot it towards Shadow. Immediately reacting, Shadow deflected it with another Chaos Spear attack, causing another explosion of energy to emit. Metal Sonic quickly threw through the smoke of energy and prepared to attack Shadow, but the hedgehog dodged the attack by teleporting in a flash of blue light. He appeared behind Luigi.

"Whoa! What was that?" Luigi exclaimed in awe. Before he could do anything else, Shadow threw a powerful kick towards his head, knocking him onto the floor. Luigi cried in pain and slowly got up, rubbing his head in the process. "Uncalled for! Play fair, next time!" Shadow simply gave him a smirk and watched as Luigi ran up to him, throwing his fists in front of him, hoping to hit the hedgehog. Shadow moved to the left effortlessly, dodging Luigi's attack and threw a punch to his back. Luigi fell forward, giving out another pained cry.

"He doesn't seem to be a strong guy. Such a big turn off!" Rouge taunted to Luigi as he struggled to get on his feet. She turned to Shadow. "Come on, let's get out of this dusty grandfather clock!" Before they could flee, Metal Sonic stopped them in their tracks. Strangely, there was a red orb of energy charging on his stomach. He was preparing for a Chaos Blast attack.

"Not so fast. You two aren't leaving until you hand over the Chaos Emerald." Metal Sonic threatened them. The red orb energy began to slowly grow bigger in size.

"I see what you're up to," Shadow said. He walked up in front of Metal Sonic and began to tighten the grip of the Chaos Emerald in his hand. He slowly stored up energy in his body, Suddenly, his fur began to glow red. Shadow prepared to unleashed the same attack as Metal Sonic.

"You wouldn't dare shoot out the attack in a place like this." Metal Sonic began to test Shadow.

"Try me." Shadow simply responded.

"Ooooh, seems like things are about to heat up!" Rouge exclaimed. She began to flap her wings and hovered in the air. She turned to Luigi, who was still on the floor. "I suggest you get very far from this area."

"Wait...what's going on?" Luigi asked, still feeling dazed from his beating.

Before his question was answered, Metal Sonic and Shadow released their energy of the Chaos Blast. A huge, red, destructive explosion emitted from the two, causing major damage to the clock tower. The force caused the many gears to fly out from place. The flooring cracked and broke from the explosion. All four of the big clocks shattered from the Chaos Blast, causing glass to fly through the air and fell to the ground below. The clock hands spiraled into the buildings and streets.

All who was left in the clock tower were Metal Sonic and Shadow, who were gasping hard from taking in the blow of the explosions. It took them much of their own energy to defend themselves from the huge Chaos Blast and Luigi were nowhere to be found in the destroyed room.

"You are a strong robot," Shadow spoke in a calm voice, even under the violent circumstances. "Say, didn't you attempt to convince everyone that you were the _real _Sonic?"

"I _am _the real Sonic the Hedgehog!" Metal Sonic shouted angrily. "That loathsome copy of mine should never be compared to _my _superiority!"

"Then let's see if you're able match up to his powers." Shadow quickly thrusted himself towards Metal Sonic. The robot did the same. Another loud explosion soon erupted from the broken clock tower, disrupting the peace that had long taken place in Spagonia. Surelu, a long, battle of chaos was sure to take place.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**A battle has ensued between Metal Sonic and Shadow! Who will come out the victor and take the Green Chaos Emerald in their possesion? And what happened to Rouge and Luigi? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! Aww yeah! Shadow and Rouge, the bad$$ duo, finally make an appearance! These two will play important roles in the story, but not as big as Mario, Sonic and the other main heroes. (check my avatar again to see who are the main heroes).**

**The appearance of Luigi's new attire is inspired by his appearance as Mr. L in "Super Paper Mario". You could say it's a bit of a reference to this, as in this story, Luigi's memory has been totally wiped out/lost by amnesia, sort of the same way his mind was taken over, completely forgetting who he was. I was reluctant to add this change to Luigi, as I remembered some of you didn't like the idea of Mr. L in the first place. But hey, my story, I get to make the decisions here. And they're usually good decisions. I think...**

**Hmm, now that I've said that, I want to know what some people like and don't like about my story adaptation of the Mario and Sonic universe. If you have the time, tell us in the review section. Much appreciated! :)**

**Last week, someone raised the question about Orbot and Cubot's appearance in the games. Warning to people who haven't completed Sonic Generations. What I'm about to say will spoil the ending.**

**Apparently, after the events of Sonic Colors, Eggman _left_ Orbot and Cubot in space so he could harness the power of the Time Eater. In this story, we'll simply assume a period of time passed by and the robots found their way back to Earth. That's pretty much the best explanation I have to make the continuity _here_ right. Don't accept that? Well, explain to _me_ how Eggman is still in Mario's world, when he should be stuck in _time limbo_ with his past self. And what about their appearance in Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games? Hah!**

**I don't know why, but some people have been so interested in me, that they want to know what gender I am. Well, if you guys are still questioning my gender, I'm 100% boy, but I prefer man as well. ;D**

**Well, I hope you guy enjoyed reading this chapter. Thanks for all who have supported me. You rock! Make sure you check my profile for updates and such on my stories, and see what's up in my life through my daily blog section. Oh, and for those interested in the pictures I've created for my story, search up my account on . My username is the same as this site, "Azurixx".**

**P.S. I forgot to mention, it's someone's birthday today. I wonder who it's for anyway. *cough* ;)**

_**-Azurixx**_

******__************__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	55. Rattling Outcomes!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 55: Rattling Outcomes!_**

* * *

_S__pagonia, Outside the University_

"Owwww...my head!" Luigi groaned. He rubbed his head and looked around him, finding himself on top of the stairs of the University of Spagonia. He wondered to himself on how'd he got there. He remembered a fight had commenced between Metal Sonic and Shadow inside the clock tower. The two foes had both used an explosion attack, causing Luigi to fly away from the force.

"Man, those two over did it..." Luigi commented about their powers. "I sort of wish I could do that...can I?" Luigi still didn't know much about himself, due to his amnesia. He scratched his head, wondering what to do next. "I guess I should go and try to help Metal Sonic."

_BOOM!_

Something had crashed into the fountain in front of the university steps. Shadow jumped out of the fountain, soaked. He shook the water off his fur. His expression on his face seemed to be really angry. In his hand, was the Green Chaos Emerald.

"Hmph! That robot got a lucky shot." Shadow whisperee to himself. He was looking up in the air. There, Metal Sonic was slowly hovering towards him. He had yellow sparks of electricity floating around him.

"What kind of power is that?" Metal Sonic taunted at Shadow. "I thought you were the ultimate lifeform. But you just seem to be as weak as the blue hedgehog himself!" Shadow growled furiously. No way would he let Metal Eonic get away with a nasty comment like that.

Metal Sonic jerked backwards, then thrusted himself forward towards Shadow, initiating a V. Maximum Overdrive attack. Shadow easilt dodges the attack by teleporting using Chaos Control. He appeared a few steps below from Luigi's position.

"Hey! Give us that emerald!" Luigi shouted. He ran up to Shadow and tries grabbing the Chaos Emerald from Shadow. The two fought for the emerald's possession.

"Get off me, you pathetic human!" Shadow snarled at him. Tired of Luigi's antics, Shadow shot a Chaos Spear right in front of him, causing Luigi to fly back towards the doors of the university.

"Geez! What a pushover!" Luigi complained as he got up. He dusted off his clothes and watched as Metal Sonic and Shadow fought it out in front of the university. They were throwing various laser blasts and Chaos Spear shots at each other like wild animals. Luigi sighed to himself. He wished he had super cool powers like them. At the moment, all he could do was get thrown around like a punching bag.

"What's with the troubled look, handsome?" someone suddenly spoke out. Luigi was surprised and looked around, seeing no one near him. A whistle came from above. Luigi looked up and saw Rouge hanging upside-down from the university's overhanging roof.

"Oh, it's the bat girl." Luigi spoke in an uninterested voice. He suddenly raised an eyebrow to her. "How'd you get here anyway?"

"Same as you," Rouge explained as she began to slowly float down to Luigi with her wings. "I was thrown half a mile across town from the blast those two _lunatics_ made. It's not how I usually fly around from place to place, I'll tell you."

"I see." Luigi said. He watched as Metal Sonic used his Ring Spark Energy attack to try and hit Shadow, but the hedgehog quickly dodged the attack with his speed and shot a quick Chaos Spear at the robot. "So...what's up with you and Mr. Spikey over there?"

"Oh, nothing much." Rouge responded as she crossed her arms and also watched the fight. "We're just partners, really. We've been through a lot. He can be so mysterious sometimes, but that's because of his troubled past."

"Troubled past?" Luigi repeated curiously.

Rouge began to explain about Shadow's past. How he was created by a scientist, Professor Gerald Robotnik, to be the ultimate lifeform. How he had lived a calm life in space with a girl whom he loved like a sister. How all that was taken away from him by the government, who deemed him too dangerous and tried to kill him. How he wanted revenge on humans, but instead endes up saving them. How he ended up getting amnesia afterwards and fought with his past enemies to gain it all back.

"Wow...that must've been hard for him to deal with." Luigi said. "One day, waking up to realize you know nothing of yourself. It's awful really. You just wish you could quickly gain back all your memories of yourself."

"It's like you've experianced this before," Rouge said, suddenly interested. Luigi explained he was still suffering from amnesia. Rouge understood him. "I see. And I'm assuming Metal Sonic is trying to help you regain your memory. That's a shock."

"What you mean by shock?" Luigi asked her.

"Well you see, Metal Sonic isn't that nicest robot you'll ever meet." Rouge explained. "Believe me, I've met a few robots before. All that goes through Metal Sonic's mind is that he thinks he's the real Sonic the Hedgehog and one day he'll rule the world. I'm surprised you would suddenly join him and fight with something evil as him."

"What? You're wrong!" Luigi suddenly yelled at her. "Metal Sonic isn't a bad guy! The real bad guy is Sonic! We've been fighting against him for a long time! Metal Sonic has told me! I've been his partner for awhile! I should know!"

"You've been his partner for a long time? I don't believe you." Rouge rolled her eyes at him. "I would have known if you were his partner. This is the first time I've met you before. Are you sure Metal Sonic isn't lying to you?"

"HUH! What are you talking about?" Luigi questioned her. "You don't know me anyway! And of course Metal Sonic isn't lying to me!"

"Face it, you don't know much about yourself as much as me." Rouge told him. "Didn't you tell me you were suffering from amnesia? Metal Sonic could have manipulated you into believing things that aren't true."

Luigi couldn't believe what Rouge was saying to him. He was sure to himself that he and Metal Sonic were friends for a long time. And now suddenly a bat girl was telling him otherwise. But she did have a point of manipulation. Luigi had no clue about his past. Could someone be so evil to trick him. "No...it can't be true..." he whispered to himself."

"Believe what you want to believe." Rouge said to him She started to walk away, intending to help Shadow in his fight. "You may seem gullible, but your looks a much _dashing._" She gave him a quick wink and flew towards the fight.

"Did she just hit on me?" Luigk whispered to himself. He shook off the thought, having more important things to worry about, like his past. Was Rouge right about Metal Sonic trying to manipulate him? He began to ponder about it deeply.

Meanwhile, Metal Sonic and Shadow had their hands gripped together, attempting to forcefully push one another. They eyed each other down menacignly, both determined to become the victor of the battle. Unexpectedly, Rouge swooped towards them and kicked Metal Sonic's head with tremendous force, knocking him away.

"I had him right where I wanted!" Shadow complained to Rouge, giving her an angry look and gritting his teeth.

"That wasn't the kind of thank-you I was looking for," Rouge teased him as she rolled her eyes. "The fight was getting old already. Thought I'd kick things up a bit. You know what I mean?"

"Grrr! This is unacceptable!" Metal Sonic shouted. He was back in the air, hovering in front of Shadow and Rouge. "I am tired of going easy on you, hedgehog! Now I shall unleash my true power!" Metal Sonic charged up his V. Maximum Overdrive attack and surprisingly, charged towards Rouge.

"Move!" Shadow shouted. He quickly pushed Rouge out of the way and took the blow. The attack made caused Shadow to fly back a few feet, causing him to drop the Green Chaos Emerald near the bottom of the university steps.

"Ths looks like my que!" Luigi said to himself. He rushed his way towards the Chaos Emerald and grabbed it from the ground. He held it up in the air, admiring it's beauty. "Hey! I got it!"

"Not for long!" Rouge shouted. Luigi turned around and saw Rouge swooping down at her with her wings, preparing an attack. Luigi ducked, dodging Rouge's powerful kick. Luigi counter-attacked by delivering an uppercut attack to her stomach. Rouge flee high into the air and landed hard on the ground. "Hey! It's not nice to hit a lady!"

"Oops...uhm...sorry!" Luigi apologized. He was staring at his fist, astonished by how he pulled off the incredible feat. Suddenly, he heard Metal Sonic shouting at him to flee with the Chaos Emerald. "Gah! Gotta go!" Luigi began to escape, with the emerald in hand. He took a hugr leap onto the university and ran over the rooftops.

"The Chaos Emerald!" Shadow shouted. He had already recovered from Metal Sonic's attack. With great speed, Shadow boosted himself up to the rooftops and began to chase after Luigi. Metal Sonic followed them with his rocket boosters.

"How polite of them! Leaving a woman all by herself." Rouge complained as she got up. She held onto her stomach, still injured by Luigi's uppercut attack. "Gee, he sure surprised me with that blow. I gotta keep a close eye on him next time." She began to fly over the rooftops and followed the others.

Luigi was running as fast as he could over the rooftops. He leaped from building to building, being careful not to make a wrong move. He turned back, surprised to see Shadow already catching up to him. "Whoa! That guy is really fast!"

"Get back here! That emerald doesn't belong to you!" Shadow yelled to Luigi. Being quick on his rocket skates, Shadow had no problem catching up to Luigi. He was only a few feet away from him when he was shot by a surprise laser blast from behind.

"I warned you not to mess with me, hedgehog!" Metal Sonic said menacingly at Shadow. "I will make sure you suffer as much as the blue hedgehog himself when I gather all the seven Chaos Emeralds and possess the ultimate energy from the Negative Dimension!" Metal Sonic flew past Shadow, catching up to Luigi. He motioned Luigi to grab onto his hand. They were going to fly out of Spagonia.

"Even with ultimate energy, you won't have enough willpower to destroy me!" Shadow swore to the robot. Gaining a sudden boost of energy, Shadow sped himself towards the robot and threw a strong, backflip kick at the robot's stomach, causing the robot to fly back. Shadow then rushed at Luigi and grabbed onto his shoulders. He threw threw the plumber onto the ground. Luigi tried to get up, but Shadow kicked him on the side, preventing him fleeing.

"You're too weak to handle the power of even _one_ of the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow snarled at Luigi. The plumber was moaning from the pain he received fom the battle. Shadow grabbed the emerald out of Luigi's hand and gave him one last cruel look. "You're pathetic!"

"...n...no..." Luigi groaned. He was slowly losing consciousness. Before he blacked out, he got one last glimpse of Shadow nodding at him in shame, before flying away into the night sky with Rouge.

* * *

**_ Mazuri, Outside Baobab Village_**

It was early dawn in the land of Mazuri. The sky had a soothing orange glow from the sunrise light. Herds of animals were just waking up. The same happened to our heroes. They all woke up and began climbing out of the large, yellow tent that Tails brought along with them. The tent was able to turn into a small cube with the press of a button, allowing for easy-access while on road trips.

It was one of Tails' new gadgets. It was still a work-in-progress, due to not having any pillows stocked with it.

"Man, neck hurts!" Knuckles began to complain as he rubbed his neck. "Really Tails, you gotta find a way to pack some pillows into this thing."

"Just be lucky you don't have to sleep on the ground." Sonic told him. He stretched for a bit and suddenly sped away from the heroes, beginning his morning jog.

"I'm starving." Yoshi said as he patted on his belly. He had already finished the fruit basket Kwod and Yawa gave to them last night, and surprisingly that wasn't enough for him. He turned to Tails, who already turned the tent back into it's compact cube form. "Hey, did you happen to bring any food with you?"

"Nope. Sorry." Tails answered. He brought the tent cube gadget to the Tornado 2, storing it inside it's glove compartment. He then took out his Miles Electric, and started thinking on how to increase the Emerald Radar's power.

"Oh, that's okay. I'm sure some of the village people will have something for me to eat." Yoshi began his way towards Baobab Village. He licked his lips, anticipating the taste of fresh fruit in his mouth. Knuckles followed him. He hoped to find a few grapes somewhere in the village.

"So Tails, did you figure out a way to strengthen the Emerald Radar's signal?" Mario asked. The plumber appeared to be tired. He wasn't able to get a good night sleep, knowing that Peach was still suffering in her coma. He hoped they weren't running out of time.

"I actually did," Tails began to explain to him. "You see, the Chaos Emerald's act as magnets to each other. They're able to attract and repel each other. So I've been think of using the Chaos Emerald we already have to power up the radar."

Mario thought about his plan and thought it wouldn't hurt to try it. He handed the Red Chaos Emerald to Tails, knowing he'd need it. He watched as Tails simply stared at both the emerald and his gadget. "Uhm...so aren't you going to put the emerald inside it?"

"It's not _exactly_ simple, you know. I can't just jam the Chaos Emerald into my Miles Electric like a battery." Tails told him. "I need to make some adjustments and modifications in order for it to be compatible. We'll have to go back to my lab, since most of my tools are there."

"Oh, I see." Mario said, slightly disappointed. He was hoping they'd be able to search for the next Chaos Emerald right away, but now they had to go detour from the adventure for awhile. "As long as we can save Peach, I'm okay with it."

The two waited for the rest of the heroes to come back. They explained their next step and they all agreed to it.

"I don't mind returning to Emerald Town for awhile." Yoshi said as he took a big bite out of his apple. "I kind of liked it there while me and Knuckles were running around town looking for you guys." The dinosaur especially liked the beach area. It sort of reminded him of the coast areas of Yoshi's Island.

"Ugh...I don't know if I wanna go back there for awhile." Sonic confessed. He remembered the last time he was there, he and Amy had a fight. If she got another glimpse of him, surely she would try to kill him.

"You gotta apologize to her sometime." Knuckles told him. Sonic gave him an uneasy look. Knuckles patted the hedgehog's shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll be easy! I'll help you!"

"You'll help me apologize to her?"

"Heck no! I'll be hiding somewhere where she won't see me. So in case she begins pounding you with that hammer of hers, I'll be able to run and call for help!" Knuckles gave him a large grin. Sonic simply rolled his eyes at him.

"Yeah...good idea...I appreciate the support...really."

The heroes climbed onto the Tornado 2. Tails started up the engine and began their flight back to Emerald Town, leaving both Mazuri and their adventures there behind them. They'd have to delay their emerald hunt, but only to make things easier for them in the near future.

Unfortunately, things would get worse.

* * *

_**Eggman's Secret Headquarters **_

Orbot, Cubot and the Interceptor were goofing around in Eggman's main control room. It was a large room with three big screens mounted to the opposite wall of the doorway. A hovercraft chair, which was in Eggman's "egg" shape, was stationed in front of the control panel of the screens. The whole room was painted red with a white ceiling and floor.

"What do all these buttons do again?" Cubot asked in a curious voice. He floated over the control panel, eyeing over all the various flashing buttons.

"I'm as oblivious as you are," Orbot responded to him. He laid down on Eggman's chair in his usual relaxed position. He turned over to the Interceptor, which filled almost half the room. "Do you have any idea what the buttons do?"

The Interceptor scratched it's head and simply shrugged.

"Let's try this button!" Cubot exclaimed as he pointed to a square, blue button. The robot slammed onto the button. A map of the whole planet popped onto the screens. "Hey! Look! I did it!"

"Amazing job, Cubot!" Orbot congratulated him. He floated up to the screens and inspected the map carefully. "Hmm, I can only wonder where the doctor could be. We've searched almost the whole planet and haven't found a single sign of him."

"Do you think he...you know...abandoned us?" Cubot suggested in a nervous tone. He shuddered at the thought. Why would Eggman, their creator, leave them? Did he find a new, better laboratory? Cubot was really worried.

The two were really worried. Orbot and Cubot had spent the last few weeks looking for the doctor after his mysterious disappearance. In order to prevent the heroes from knowing and stopping them, the robots lied to them back in Mazuri, when they said they were only exploring the world, "for fun".

"Now Cubot, don't think so negatively." Orbot told him. He patted him on the back. "There is no reason why Eggman would leave us, one of the best robots in the world! Don't you remember the last thing he said to us before he left? He was going to destroy Sonic once again."

"But we just saw Sonic back at that citadel place!." Cubot reminded him. He shook his head in stress. "We've been searching for Eggman for almost a whole month and we haven't seen him! Let's face it, he's abandoned us! He's left us to rot because we are the worst robots in the world!" / It seemed like Cubot was about to cry, which was odd, since robots couldn't cry.

"Cheer up. I don't want to see you like this." Orbot said as he continued to pat Cubot's back. "We'll find Eggman soon enough. After all, if he did happen to leave us, we can bribe him to come back with this."

Orbot quickly floated out of the room and came back with the Yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand. Both Cubot and the Interceptor looked at the emerald in awe. No matter how many times they've seen it, it still looked magnificant.

"Man! Do I remember what we had to go through to get that jewel!" Cubot exclaimed, remembering the fight back in Mazuri. He thoughtmof something. "Gee, that reminds me, who was that red guy with Sonic?"

"Are you talking about the knucklehead or the plumber with the fancy moustache?" Orbot asked.

"Uhm...the plumber!"

"I absolutely have no idea." Orbot answered, He scratched his head, trying to remember if they've seen the plumber before. "This seems odd though. After Eggman had disappeared, all of a sudden Sonic's got a new friend..."

"Do you think they've done something to the doctor!" Cubot gasped. Orbot simply shrugged. The Interceptor remembered the plumber. It wanted revenge at him and the rest of the heroes.

"It could be a possibility," Orbot said in an unsure voice. "We have to make sure!" Orbot quickly came up with an idea. "Let's capture that plumber and interrogate him! If he does have the doctor, we'll make sure he leads us to him."

Cubot liked the idea. The Interceptor slammed one of it's fist into it's hands. It couldn't wait to get the chance to pulverize the heroes.

"It's settled then. We'll catch that plumber, with any means necessary!" Orbot said. He led the three of them out of Eggman's headquarters, with the intent of coming back with a plumber.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Orbot and Cubot have seem to set their eyes on a familiar plumber! Can they capture him? Will the heroes be able to find another Chaos Emerald? And what will Metal Sonic and Luigi do, now that Shadow and Rouge have the Green Chaos Emerald? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! First off, I want to apologize for any errors left in this chapter. I couldn't get enough time to proofread this on Friday (which is what I usually do for all chapters) because I was out performing for a Big Band Dance event, and I didn't get home until around midnight. (If you're interested, I play Alto Saxophone. It's fun to play!)**

**I want to explain the meaning of the title. "Rattling" is another way of saying "surprising", and we all know should know what "outcome" means if we've all been to school, or looked in a dictionary. The title symbolizes the surprising outcomes everyone comes forward to:**

**Metal Sonic and Luigi don't get their Chaos Emerald and meet Shadow and Rouge, the heroes already have to return home from their emerald hunt, and Orbot and Cubot's true intentions are revealed.**

**It takes me awhile to figure out these titles. So it's much appreciated if you give me credit for that. :D**

**Thanks for taking the time to read this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has supported me throughout the story. You guys are awesome! Make sure to come back next week for the new chapter update and see what unfolds. **

**Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

**********__************__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	56. Emergency Landing!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 56: Emergency Landing!_**

* * *

**_Above the skies of Westside Island_**

Our heroes were enjoying a calm flight through the skies. They were only a few miles away from Westside Island. Their intentions of returning was to let Tails upgrade his Miles Electric to allow the Chaos Emerald they had at the moment to power up the Emerald Radar, which would make their mission much easier for them.

**_"_**Are we there yet? It's starting to get uncomfortable in this plane..." Yoshi started to complain. He tried shifting to a more comfortable position, but nothing he did worked.

"Yeah...you're telling me that!" Mario complained as well. Yoshi tried shifting his position while sitting on Mario's lap, but nothing he did worked for the both of them.

"Hang on just a little longer, you guys. I'll be able to land the Tornado II in just a few more minutes." Tails assured them.

"Well, wake me up when we get there. I'm gonna take a quick power nap right now." Sonic told them. He slowly stretched on the wing of the Tornado II and carefully laid on it in a sleeping position.

"Hey, do any of you guys have a stick I can borrow?" Knuckles asked them. "I wanna poke him while he sleeps." The others gave him a weird look. Knuckles rolled his eyes at them and began staring down towards Westside Island. The heroes were just above the mountain region of the island.

All of a sudden, a bright, purple light flashed in the sky. At first, it seemed like nothing. But suddenly, a flash of the same light appeared from the same spot and cut through the air at blinding speeds. The slice of light went through the Tornado II, inflicting damage to the engine. Smoke began to come out from the propeller and malfunctioning noises emitted.

"Oh no! I've lost control of the plane!" Tails shouted in a panicked voice. The Tornado II began to dive down towards Westside Island. He did all he could to try and regain flight, like pushing the buttons on the control panel and trying to steer the plane upwards, but nothing worked.

"AAH! We're going to crash!" Yoshi shouted. He began to brace himself for impact by lowering his head behind into the seat. Mario held tightly on the side of the plane. Knuckles was shouting in panic, while Sonic was somehow still sound asleep on the tumbling Tornado II.

"Tails! Do something!" Knuckles yelled at him as he held tightly on the wing of the plane. His grip was so tight that his clenching started to bend the wing of the plane. Tails continued to try and regain flight, but nothing still worked.

"Hold on guys!" Tails shouted to them. "We're in for a rough landing!"

The heroes screamed as the Tornado II twirled down through the sky, soon crash landing into the mountain area below.

* * *

_**Empire City, Atop the rooftops**_

The large, metropolis city was booming with busy citizens and loud traffic. The city had experienced an epic battle in the previous months, which was most notably the last time anyone in the city had seen Sonic, his friends and Dr. Eggman. The Grand Park, which was where the battle took place, had been recently cleaned up from the wreckage of the battle.

At the moment, Shadow and Rouge were conversing with one another on top of the buildings of Empire City. In Rouge's hand was the Green Chaos Emerald they had found back in Spagonia, after they fought for it with Metal Sonic and the mysterious green fellow with the robot.

"You still wonder why those two were after the Chaos Emerald?" Rouge asked Shadow. She held the Chaos Emerald in her hand, admiring it's beauty.

"It's no doubt they were going to harness the energy of the emerald in some way for their own use." Shadow explained as he looked out into the city below.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Rouge said. "This wouldn't be the first time someone tried stealing the Chaos Emeralds. I still remember the many power-hungry fools that tried taking the emeralds for themselves."

"What about you?" Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow. "Don't you also attempt at stealing the Chaos Emeralds from time to time? What's your excuse?"

"I, for one, couldn't care less about power." Rouge stated. She smiled as she began to rub the Chaos Emerald in her hand. "These little babies only attract me for their divine beauty. I've stolen many jewels in my life, but none match the perfect cut of these gems."

Shadow continued to stare out into the city. His eyes were fixed on one location. The Grand Park. Ever since the disappearance of Sonic and Dr. Eggman, he pondered on what happened to their whereabouts. The news report that informed him only explained about a giant, dark portal that sucked them in. He wondered what mysterious power could have caused the portal.

The weird thing for him was, the day Sonic and Dr. Eggman disappeared, was the same day he felt the presence of the Chaos Emeralds disappear as well. It had come to him by a short headache. He wondered if the two disappearances were connected somehow.

"Rouge," Shadow started. "do you still wonder whatever happened to Sonic and the doctor?"

"You're still thinking about that?" Rouge asked, in a somewhat surprised voice. She simply shrugged to him. "Beats me. I'm only an agent, not much of a detective. And I'm no big expert in portals either." She raised an eyebrow to him. "Don't tell me you're actually worried about them, hmmm?"

"Hmph! Their well-being is the least of my concern." Shadow said, turning his head away from Rouge. "I just have a feeling that their disappearance is related to the Chaos Emeralds disappearing. But now that the Chaos Emeralds have returned-"

"That they've returned as well?" Rouge finished his sentence. Shadow nodded to her. Rouge thought about it for a minute. "Well, you never know. That could be the case. But I'm still not certain how the two events are related."

Suddenly, a beeping noise emitted from Rouge's pocket. She took out her radio and answered it. It was G.U.N, the military organization of the capital.

"This is interesting." Rouge said, putting her radio back into her pocket. "I just received a report from my advisor. They said a large comet appeared and landed somewhere in Adabat and they want me to investigate it."

"A comet..." Shadow said to himself. That seemed a little strange to him. What could have come from that comet? He was already interested. "I'm coming with you."

"Alright. I could use the company." Rouge said. The two headed their way to Adabat. It would be a long journey for them.

* * *

_**Hill Top Zone, On top of a mountain**_

In the northern region of Westside Island, was a large mountain range. The tall blue-tinted peaks rose high above the clouds and was covered in striped grass and scattered with many pine trees. Vines and chairlifts connected to each cliff. Big, brown vertiginous ridges surrounded the mountain peaks.

At the moment, our heroes were slowly recovering from the sudden Tornado II crash. They had landed on top of a mountain peak. Luckily, no one was badly hurt.

"Ugh...didn't need that to happen..." Knuckles groaned as he sat up.

"Is everyone okay?" Mario asked. He looked to the others, seeing none of them in severe pain. He got up, also helping Yoshi off the ground.

"...what happened?" Sonic asked, waking up from his slumber. He looked around, seeing they were somewhere in the Hill Top Zone. "Hey, this isn't Emerald Town. Why are we here? And why does my head hurt all of a sudden?"

"We just crash landed." Tails answered him. Sonic asked him how. Tails scratched his head. "i have no clue. While we were flying, this shot of light cut through the Tornado II...oh no! Where's the plane?"

"It's over there." Yoshi said, pointing to the wrecked Tornado II. The plane had crashed through some trees and landed in between them. It was completely trashed. The wings were split, the propeller was gone and the whole body was crumpled up like a soda can. Tails slowly walked up to the wreckage, overwhelmed by the damage.

"What did I do to deserve this!" Tails suddenly shouted. He put his hands to his head and shook it in disappointment. Tails felt like he was the most unluckiest person in the worl. Both his prized planes were completely totaled.

"Don't worry about your plane, Tails." Yoshi tried to comfort him. "You could always build another one."

"Yeah! And...uhm...I could help." Knuckles said, reluctantly. He thought it was the best thing to say to cheer Tails up.

"Thanks for the support guys..." Tails told them. He sighed deeply. "I just wished this wouldn't have happened though."

Mario walked up towards the wrecked Tornado II. He searched through the cockpit area, finding the Miles Electric and the Red Chaos Emerald still in tact. "Well, if anything good should come out of this, atleast these didn't break in the crash."

"Well, now that everyone's okay...physically atleast, and we have everything we need, why don't we find our way back to Emerald Town?" Sonic suggested.

"Sure." Yoshi said. "How far is Emerald Town from here anyway?"

"Not too far. It's just on the other side of the island."

"...what?"

"Sonic...you know that all of us can't run as fast as you." Knuckles reminded him. "We can't take a leisurely ten minute jog like you can." Sonic sighed, disappointed he couldn't run as gast as he could, without leaving the others.

"Well, what do you guys suggest then?" Sonic asked them. "If we can't simply run back to Emerald Town, how are we going to get there?"

"Well..." Tails started. He was a little over his broken Tornado II at the moment. "we could traverse through the mountains until we reach the underground cave systems. Then we can travel through the caves until we reach the other side of the island. There should be a mine that connects all the way to the Emerald Hill caves."

"Seems straight forward." Mario said. "Okie-dokie. Why don't one of you guys lead, while the rest of us follows?" Sonic volunteered to lead the group. In a split second, he sped off through the mountain peaks, running past peaks and rushing through the loop-de-loops.

"Ugh...he needs to know how to slow down." Knuckles groaned. The rest of the heroes followed Sonic as fast as they could. They carefully traversed through Hill Top Zone, jumping from floating platforms, riding on the chairlifts and using the various springs and see-saws to climb up the peaks when necessary. They heroes did this until they reached a cavern entrance in one of the hills.

"What's inside here?" Mario asked, looking into the cave entrance.

"Eh, probably spikes, crushing walls and the occasional lava pits." Sonic answered. "You know, the usual."

"So nothing I haven't seen before. That's-a good!"

"I hope there aren't any of those see-saw things in there," Yoshi said as he rubbed his head. "I didn't know we had to quickly hop onto the other side to avoid getting hit by those red ball things. And why did those things have eyes?"

"That proves our world is as crazy-looking as yours." Knuckles told him. Yoshi nodded, agreeing with him.

The heroes entered the cave entrance and were already treated with their first lava pit. They carefully crossed it by using the platforms that floated upon the lava. They continued through the cave, avoiding the spikes scattered across the walls and floor. The heroes soon came upon a corrider where the walls would crush into each other, before sliding back into place. On the other side was another cave entrance, leading into the underground. A sign was bolted on the top. It read, "Mystic Cave."

"Hehe! No problem!" Sonic exclaimed. He quickly charged up a spin-dash and sped past the crushing walls. He stopped at the entrance of the underground. He looked back and whistled to the others. "Come on! You guys can make it!"

"Yeah...if we could spin in a ball at high speeds like him." Yoshi whispered to Mario. Suddenly, Tails and Knuckles charged up their spin-dashes and sped by the crushing walls. Ths left Mario and Yoshi astonished.

"Alright! It's your turn!" Knuckles shouted back to the two. Mario and Yoshi looked at each other. How were they going to pass by the crushing walls? They couldn't spin like Sonic and his friends. They were going to have to run for it.

"Hop on my back." Yoshi told Mario. "Between you and me, I'm the faster runner, so I should do the running."

"Are you sure about this?" Mario asked him. "I mean, you are really fast. But that's when no one isn't on your back. We both know my weight will slow you down a bit." Yoshi nodded to him. He was sure they could make it. By this time, the crushing walls slid back into their place.

"This is your chance guys!" Tails told them. Quickly, Mario hopped onto Yoshi's back. The dinosaur took a deep breath and gazed into the corrider. He started sprinting through the corrider as fast as he could, with Mario holding tightly on his saddle. At the halfway point, the crushing walls began to move towards each other.

"They're not going to make it!" Knuckles yelled out.

"They will make it." Sonic corrected him.

Just as the crushing walls slammed against one another, Mario and Yoshi jumped out of it's way, barely making it. The two stumbled onto the ground. Yoshi was breathing hard, exhausted, yet glad they made it past the obstacle.

"Good job guys! You made it!" Tails congratulated them. He helped the both of them up.

"I have to say, that was some pretty fast running Yoshi." Sonic complimented, giving him a thumbs-up. Yoshi grinned. Maeio patted Yoshi on the saddle, also complmenting his fine running.

"Yes, it was some fine running," Knuckles said. He then pointed into the Mystic Cave entrance. "But right now, we should starting our way into this cave. I have a feeling we're gonna be in here for quite awhile."

The heroes looked into the Mystic Cave entrance. It had been quite a long time since Sonic and Tails stepped foot into the zone, while the others hadn't even entered it in their whole life. The heroes entered the Mystic Cave, preparing themselves for what's to come.

* * *

**_Abandoned Scrap Brain Zone, Main Control room_**

The main control room was located deep within the Scrap Brain Zone. It was a room consisting of one long hallway, leading into a room with a large screen and a control panel. In the middle of the room, was the power core, which was used to power up the whole Scrap Brain Zone.

"...where am i?" Luigi grumbled to himself. He sat up, finding himself on the floor of the room. He stood up, looking around the room. "How did I get here?"

"You were carried here." a voice answered him. Luigi turned to the voice, seeing Metal Sonic standing in front of the entrance hallway of the room. "I found you unconscious on top of the rooftops of Spagonia. Do you remember?"

"Oh yeah. The fight." Luigi said, remembering last night's events. They had took quite a beating last night. Luigi remembered about the two people they had fought. Shadow and Rouge. "Didn't they take the Chaos Emerald from us?"

Metal Sonic nodded. He clenched his fist, remembering their loss.

"I'm sorry, Metal," Luigi suddenly apologized. "I wasn't strong enough. It was my fault they got away with the emerald." He looked down to the floor, feeling ashamed. He remembered the words Shadow spoke to him. He had called him weak and pathetic.

Metal Sonic was surprised Luigi pinned the blame all on himself. "Do not mourn about our loss. I will assure you those two will pay for what they've done."

"So what do we do now? What's our next step?" Luigi asked.

"I have been thinking about what we should do next." Metal Sonic began to explain. He pointed to the power core in the middle of the control room. "You see that? It powers up the whole Scrap Brain Zone. If we find a big enough power source, we'll be able to power up this whole fortress for our plans."

"Neat." Luigi commented. "So where do we find this power core?"

"I will be finding this power source myself." Metal Sonic explained. Luigi gave him a confused look. Metal Sonic walked up to the plumber and handed him the emerald radar. "I will be entrusting you with the Chaos Emeralds."

"What? Me? All by myself?" Luigi was shocked. He looked at the emerald radar in his hand, being in disbelief that he was granted such a task. "You think I can find the emeralds on my own?"

"...Of course." Metal Sonic told him. "Everyone has the power and strength to do what they can, if they believe in themselves. I can see the potential you have. You just need to unleash it."

"You...really think I have potential?" Luigi repeated him. Metal Sonic nodded to him. Luigi appreciated Metal Sonic's encouragement. He felt like he could achieve the task at hand. Luigi then remembered about Rouge's words back at Spagonia, when she told him Metal Sonic was actually a bad guy.

He didn't seem like a bad guy at the time.

"Make sure you do not fail me." Metal Sonic told Luigi. He began walking out of the control room

"I won't." Luigi assured him. He looked back to the emerald radar in his hand. He was sure he could find the Chaos Emeralds. "I will find them."

_The fool better not mess up my plans. _Metal Sonic thought to himself. He had many doubts if Luigi could pull of the task. _Right now, I must focus on finding the power source_

_._

_.._

_... _

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**The heroes must venture through the mysterious Mystic Cave Zoneto return home! Will they get through? And what could come out of the comet from Adabat? And will Luigi be able to handle finding all seven Chaos Emeralds by himself? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**Author Notes: Chapter complete! First off, I want to apologize for not posting any chapter up for the last two weeks. Truth is, I've been sick for the first week, then I got lazy towards writing the chapter the second week. Sorry about that. I don't know how to put it, but I'm sort of losing motivation for this story. I have no idea why. Maybe it's because I've been busy with my social life, that I keep forgetting about my fanfiction. **

**Don't worry though, I'm not abandoning this story. I can assure you guys that.**

**There's not much to say about this chapter. The only important thing I want to address is the identity of what the power source Metal Sonic is intending to find. Do you know what he is talking about? Let me say, you've already seen it in the story.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I honestly wouldn't be here without you guys. Make sure you come back next time to read the newest chapter. Bye for now! :D**

**_-Azurixx_**

**__************__************__****__********__****__****-I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters.** They are property of Nintendo and Sega-


	57. Spelunking!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 57: Spelunking!_**

* * *

**_Westside Island, Mystic Cave Zone_**

Deep below the land of Westside Island, were dark, yawning caverns, filled with moss-covered rocks and dangling plant tendrils. Lamps left inside the cave dimly lit the area. Bridges were conveniantly placed above spiked pits. Ever since Eggman's badniks left the area, the Mystic Cave was eerily quiet.

"This cave is really big!" Yoshi exclaimed, staring in awe at the cave's size. He and the heroes were standing on a cliff near the cavern's entrance. The dinosaur looked down, seeing the many spike pits. "Yikes...that looks dangerous."

"Make sure you watch your step then." Knuckles warned him. "You wouldn't want to end up being a dinosaur-kebab, huh?" Yoshi nodded to him, then gulped. The thought of him turning into a kebab was a little disturbing.

"So which way is it back to Emerald Hill, Tails?" Sonic asked, looking over to his fox friend. Right now, Tails was on his Miles Electric, looking over their coordinates inside the cavern.

"According to my gadget, it shows that our quickest route is through that tunnel over there." Tails pointed up to a tunnel in the cave. It was hear the roof, but unfortunately it had no ledge for them to jump on and allow them to enter the tunnel.

"That looks like a tricky jump." Mario said. He wondered if he could jump all the way up the the tunnel. "Come on, let's go on!"

The heroes headed towards the tunnel. They carefully traversed through the Mystic Cave, jumping over spike pits and climbing up vines to reach from lesge to ledge. They came upon a narrow rock cliff closest to the tunnel they were supposed to enter. The only the that got between them was a large spiked pit.

"I don't think I can carry all you guys through that tunnel. It's too small for all of us to fit through at once." Tails explained.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle this myself." Knuckles assured the heroes. He suddenly jumped off the rock cliff they were on and glided his way across the spiked pit below and attached himself to the same wall of the tunnel. He began to scale upwards.

"So what about us?" Mario asked. "How will the rest of us get there?"

"I've got an idea." Sonic said, with a smirk. He began to back up away from the edge of the rock cliff. He took a deep breath and suddenly charged up a Spin-Dash. He shot himself forward, launching himself off the cliff and soared over the spikedd pit, landing inside the tunnel.

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Yoshi exclaimed. He shouted back to Sonic. "Nice job Sonic!"

"Pfft...show off..." Knuckles grumbled to himself as he continued climbing up the cavern's wall.

"Alright! Your turn!" Sonic shouted back, waving at the others. Mario, Yoshi and Tails conversed with each other, figuring out a plan to get all of them to the other side.

"Why don't you both fly to the other side, while I jump myself?" Mario suggested. Tails and Yoshi had unsure looks on their faces.

"Are you sure about this, Mario?" Tails asked him. "I know you're an amazing jumper, but do you see the size of this spiked pit? How are you going to get enough momentum to clear the whole thing?"

"Don't worry, Mario can do it!" Yoshi said, smiling to the plumber. "He doesn't have the title Super for nothing."

"If you insist. Alright." Tails nodded to Mario. Yoshi held onto Tail's shoes with both hands and the two flew their way across the spiked pit. At that moment, Knuckles had made his way up to the tunnel. Sonic had to back up to allow the echidna to climb into the tunnel. It was awfully cramped inside.

Mario took a deep breath. He backed up to allow himself some speed for his jump. He concentrated on the tunnel within the wall. He'd only have one shot at this. If he'd screw up, the spiked pit below would surely turn him into a plumber kebab.

"Here we go!" Mario shouted. He began to sprint his wayto the edge of the rock cliff. He took a mighty jump and began to fly across the spiked pit. He was half way across when he suddenly began to fall.

"He's not going to make it!" Sonic shouted. Tails and Yoshi were still flying when they saw Mario fall towards the spiked pit. They tried to fly down and catch him, but they weren't fast enough.

Just as Mario was about to hit the spikes, a large creature suddenly shot out of the ground with the spiked pits just below the plumber, causing him to fly up in the air by the force. Tails and Yoshi were close enough to catch him.

"Phew...thanks guys." Mario gasped, relieved he didn't land in the spikes. The heroes looked below, wondering what creature crashed out of the spiked pit ground.

It was no creature. It was a robot. More specifically, Eggman's robot. The Interceptor.

"Awww man! That thing again?" Knuckles shouted in annoyance. "How did that thing find us?"

"Well, at least those two other robots aren't here." Sonic pointed out. Suddenly, Orbot and Cubot floated out of the hole the Interceptor made below. Sonic slapped himself in the face. "Geez, looks like I spoke too soon."

"Well, if it isn't the mustached man that appeared out of no where!" Cubot shouted, pointing at Mario. "Where is Dr. Eggman? What did you do to him?"

"Dr. Eggman?" Mario repeated him. The last time he remembered seeing Eggman was back in his world, during their fight in Bowser's Castle. Eggman had fallen into the lava below. Mario had no clue what happened to him. "I don't know where he is."

"In all honesty, doesn't it seem a bit strange that ever since the doctor has disappeared, _you_ suddenly showed up?" Orbot explained.

"That's just a coincidence!" Yoshi shouted at the robot duo. "We have no idea what happened to Eggman, I promise!"

"Why are you two so inclined to finding him anyway?" Sonic asked them. He crossed his arms and shook his head in a disappointed fashion. "You two are better off without that crazy doctor."

"Of course you'd say something like that, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Cubot shouted at him. "It's obvious your mustached friend here did something to cause Eggman disappear. And until we find out where he is, we're going to have to borrow your friend!"

Suddenly, the Interceptor charged a laser from one of it's shoulder guns and shot towards Mario, Yoshi and Tails. The three barely dodged the laser attack. The laser continued through the air, hitting the tunnel where Sonic and Knuckles were waiting. Smoke and debris exploded from the area. All that was left was the tunnel, except the hole was much larger than before.

"Sonic! Knuckles!" Tails shouted. He'd thought the two were goners, when suddenly he heard coughing coming from the tunnel.

"Don't worry...we're fine..." Sonic yelled to them. He and Knuckles had been shot to the other side of the tunnel from the blast. Sure, it hurt them but they were still fine.

"Go Tails! We should check up on them." Mario told him. The fox nodded to him and flew them into the tunnel. Orbot demanded the Incetceptor to shoot another laser at the three. The laser shot towards them, but missed again, instead breaking down the wall of the cavern.

"Don't let them get away!" Orbot shouted. He, Cubot and the Interceptor floated after them. The Interceptor had to squeeze through the tunnel the heroes were fleeing into.

On the other side of the tunnel, Sonic and Knuckles had found themselves in a different area of the Mystic Cave Zone. They seemed to be near a mining site, since there was a mine cart system near them.

"Are you alright, Knuckles?" Sonic asked, looking to the echidna.

"I've had better days." Knuckles answered him. The two helped each other up and noticed the mine cart system near them. "Hey look, a mine cart! Maybe it'll lead us back to Emerald Hill!"

The two headed closer to the mine cart system. There was a lone mine cart on the mine track that seemed like it went through most of the Mystic Cave Zone. Suddenly, another laser blast shot through the tunnel behind them, crashing near the wall beside the mine cart.

"Man! That robot needs to learn to shoot carefully!" Knuckles complained. "Does it know it can't just shoot around in a cave like this? It's shots could collapse the whole cavern!"

"Why don't you tell that to the robot then!" Sonic told Knuckles. Just then, Mario, Yoshi and Tails flew out of the tunnel wall behind them and crash landed near the mine cart.

"Hey guys!" Yoshi greeted Sonic and Knuckles.. "It's good to see you're alright, but right now we should get a move on because that giant robot is chasing usright now."

"You took the words right of my mouth." Tails said. He helped Mario up, who was a bit dizzy from the landing. "Do you guys have any plans on how to escape from that robot maniac?"

"The solution is right here." Sonic said as he patted on the side of the mine cart. "Everyone hop on. We're going for a little ride."

Everyone hopped into the mine cart, except for Knuckles, who had to give the mine cart a good starting push. At the same time, the robot trio were nearing the heroes. Orbot saw what they were doing.

"Going on a little ride? We can't exactly let you do that until you hand over your plumber friend." Orbot commanded the Interceptor to shoot another laser at the heroes.

"Hurry up, Knuckles!" Tails pressured him.

"GRRAAHHH!" Knuckles shouted with tremendous effort. He pushed the mine cart with a powerful force. He pushed them out of the way, just in time to miss the laser blast. The heroes began their ride through the mine cart system.

"Hold on tight everyone!" Mario shouted to them. The mine cart sped it's way through the Mystic Cave zone. It made quick turns throughout the mine cart track, passing through narrow caverns, over gaping pits and

"You know, this is actually kind of fun!" Sonic yelled. He began to hold his hands up in the air.

"Are you crazy?" Knuckles shouted at him. "A killer robot just tried to annihilate us, and all you can think of is how fun this mine cart ride is?"

"Hey, you gotta try and enjoy what life gives you."

"Is that robot still chasing us?" Yoshi asked. Mario looked back, seeing no signs of the Interceptor, nor Orbot and Cubot.

"I think we're safe." Mario said to them.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. A loud rumbling emitted from where they were and suddenly the Interceptor crashed through the roof of the cave near their track, landing close behind them. Orbot and Cubot were sitting comfortably on it's shoulders. It started to give chase after the heroes.

"Man, when will that thing give up?" Knuckles complained yet again.

"We'll catch you no matter what!" Cubot shouted to them. The Interceptor shot another laser blast at the heroes, but luckily the mine cart took a quick right turn, making the laser miss and crash into the wall.

"Seems like lasers won't work anymore." Orbot realized. "It's time to take a more direct approach." Orbot made the Interceptor quicken it's flying speed. The Interceptor did as it was told and quickly caught up the heroes. The mine cart the heroes were in was climbing up towards a big drop when suddenly the Interceptor grabbed the mine cart. It held them with both it's hands.

"Oh no! It's got us!" Yoshi yelled in horror. He and the rest of the heroes held tightly on the mine cart, in case the Interceptor tipped it too far that would cause them to fall off.

"What are you going to do now, hmm?" Orbot taunted them. "You are all trapped, literally stuck in our clutches! Make one wrong move and I'll make sure the Interceptor blasts you out to oblivion."

"Any ideas, Sonic?" Tails whispered to Sonic. The hedgehog thought for a moment and came up with a plan.

"You still have the Chaos Emerald?" Sonic asked him. Tails nodded and took out the Red Chaos Emerald out of his pocket. Sonic began whispering his plan to Tails.

"Now, may we politely ask that the plumber come with us." Orbot told the heroes. "We have a few questions we want to ask him about our doctor."

"Mamamia! I'm-a told you, I don't know what happened to Eggman." Mario told them. He was finally angry at the robot duo. "How many times do I have to say this?"

"Uhmm...seven times?" Cubot answered him. "Wait, that doesn't make any sense, because we_ know_ you did something to the doctor!"

"Geez, did Eggman install some sort of annoying chip in your hardrive or something?" Knuckles calmy spoke. He was so annoyed by the robot's persistant blabbering that he got bored of it. "If he did, then that was one of the dumbest mistakes Eggman made."

"Hey! Don't you talk about the doctor like that!" Cubot warned him, sticking his finger at the echidna's face. "One more outburst like that, and we'll make sure the Interceptor gets a good blast at you."

"How about _I_ get a good blast at you?" Tails suddenly spoke out. Surprised by his outburst, the robots turned to him. They gave the fox a weird look, noticing that his fur was suddenly an orange-reddish color.

"Is it me, or did your fur just change color?" Orbot asked him.

"Don't worry, nothing is wrong with you guys...yet." Tails showed them the Red Chaos Emerald. The rest of the heroes realized what he was doing. With his other hand, Tails shot out a blast of fire towards the Innterceptor's face. The heat caused the robot to drop them back onto the mine track. The mine cart began to swoop down the track, letting the heroes escape from the robots.

"No! They're getting away!" Orbot shouted. He turned to the Interceptor, but realized it had taken damage from Tails's fire blast. It's circuits had fried up, causing the robot to malfunction.

The Interceptor began to shot laser wildly through the air, causing it to blast the cavern and dangerously damaging the walls. A loud rumbling was heard through out Mystic Cave. Due to the damage it had taken from the Interceptor's lasers, the cavern began to collapse.

"That doesn't sound too good!" Cubot said in a worried voice. "I think we should get out of here!"

Orbot agreed with him. The two robots began their way out of the Mystic Cave, leaving the Interceptor to continue to shoot blindly. The area around the robot began to collapse. Huge boulders began tumbling down from the roof, hitting thr Interceptor and damaging it. The Interceptor lost it's flight and fell to the bottom of the cavern. It was quickly buried under the rubble of boulders.

Back with the heroes, they were congratulating Tails on his surprise attack as they continued riding through the mine carr system.

"That was some cool action back there Tails! You got those robots good!" Yoshi complimented him.

"You even had me surprised!" Mario said, patting the fox in the back. "You really know how to use your Fire abilities. I'm proud that I gave you that Fire Flower when I had the chance."

"Thanks guys." Tails said. He used the Red Chaos Emerald to change back to his normal form. Sonic went up to him and gave him a wink. "Thanks Sonic."

"Hey guys, look over there!" Knuckles alerted them. He pointed in front of them. The tunnel the mine cart was riding through was nearing an opening. Light was seen on the other side. "Looks like we're almost out of the Mystic Cave zone!"

"What a relief." Yoshi said as he sat down at the corner of the mine cart. He had enough adventuring through caverns for one day.

"But is this the way to Emerald Hill?" Mario asked them.

"We'll see." Sonic answered.

As the mine cart rode it's way out of the Mystic Cave, the heroes looked around, seeing that they entered an area under a large cliff. A waterfall was falling down from the cliff. Below them, the mine cart rode over a lake under the cliff. Palm trees and flowers were planted on smaller cliffs around them

"Is this Emerald Hill?" Yoshi asked, looking around them. "I don't see any emeralds...or hills."

"Yes it is!" Tails said. He pointed towards the waterfall. As the mine cart rode closer to the waterfall, the heroes could see through it. On the other side was the lush meadows of the Emerald Hills. The heroes had come out from one of it's waterfall caves.

"Woohoo! We made it!" Mario exclaimed. The heroes waited until the mine cart reached the cave lake's shore. The ran out of the waterfall cave and into the lush meadows of Emerald Hill.

"So where do we go next?" Sonic asked the others. Yoshi saw a glimpse of Emerald Town, which was a few miles away from Emerald Hill. The heroes nodded to each other and headed their way back home.

.

..

..

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**The heroes have safely returned home! But what has become of Eggman's Interceptor? What other options do Orbot and Cubot have available in order to capture Mario? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: Chapter complete! Hey, looks like the heroes have made their way through Mystic Cave Zone! Remember that it was in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I tried to incorporate some level elements into the story, even adding a mine cart segment that wasn't in the original level.**

**Fire Tails makes a brief return to the story. More power-up appearances like this will return to the story.**

**Orbot and Cubot seem to be by themselves, now that the Interceptor is finally taken down. Will that mean they have to try and kidnap Mario by themselves? You'll see what they'll come up with soon in upcoming chapters.**

**I also have an announcement to make. I'm working on an idea for another fanfiction story. It's not going to be that romance fic that I announced a few months earlier, but something more action-packed. Once I'm 100% sure I'm going to go through with it, I'll tell you more information about it. It's going to be awesome, I promise. ;)**

**That's all I have to say for this week. I hope you guys enjoyed this week's chapter. I wouldn't be here without you. Make sure you come back next week. Bye for now!**

_-**Azurixx**_

_**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega.**_


	58. Rekindle!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 58: Rekindle!_**

* * *

**_Emerald Town, Tails's House_**

It was a peaceful afternoon in Emerald Town. Now that our heroes have finally returned home after a long journey through the wild Mazuri plains, over high hill tops and traversing through dangerous mine caverns, our heroes are taking a short rest from searching for Chaos Emeralds.

"This couch is _so _comfy!" Yoshi exclaimed as he got himself comfortable on Tails's upstairs living room. He took a pillow and hugged it as he laid down on the couch.

"So what do we do now? What's our next step?" Knuckles asked the others, taking the spare seat on the couch beside Yoshi.

"Well first off, I need to make a few modifications on my Miles Electric to make emerald hunting a little easier for us." Tails began explaining. "Then I need to come up with new transportation for us so we can get around the world easier at a faster and safer pace."

"Don't you still have your spare Tornado 3 in your basement, buddy?" Sonic reminded him. Tails shook his head. In his mind, the fox knew that if they used a small biplane to transfer _all _five of them from one place to another, it would cause them many troubles along the way.

"I was thinking of creating a new aircraft, just for all of us." Tails told them. He had an idea of building a bigger, sleeker, more powerful airship that could hold more passangers and could protect them when needed. "I have so much ideas for our new airplane."

"Well, whatever you tinker up in your laboratory, I'm sure it will look cool." Knuckles said.

"It will, because _you're_ going to help me build it." Tails demanded him. Knuckles gave him a surprised look. "I could use some of your strength to help me build the plane _and _you still sort of owe me for a new plane."

Knuckles remembered about the Tornado I that he broke a few days ago back in Apotos. He sighed deeply and reluctantly agreed to help. "Alright, fine. I'll help you build this aircraft."

"Well, while you guys have fun making an airplane, I'll be here relaxing on this warm, soft couch!" Yoshi said. He reached over for the remote on the couch's arm rests and turned on the big flat screen television that rested on the opposite wall from him. Unsurprisingly, Yoshi quickly turned it to the food channel.

"What are you guys planning to do while we're busy?" Tails asked Sonic and Mario. The two looked at each other and shrugged. "Well, if you guys absolutely have _nothing _to do, you mind if you return this to Cream for me?" Tails handed the two a red bowtie.

"Cheese's bowtie?" Sonic said, surprised. "Didn't we see him already wearing one?"

"Yeah, but that's just his extra bowtie." Tails explained. "Cream told me he has a whole closet of them. He forgot this one when they were here last time they came, and I kept forgetting to give it to them."

"No problem! We can handle this one, right Mario!" Sonic exclaimed with a lot of enthusiasm.

"You make it seem like it's such a big deal. It's only a bowtie." Mario said, without much enthusiasm. He walked downstairs and headed for the front door.

"I'm trying to make things more exciting, ya know..." Sonic grumbled to himself. He waved goodbye to Tails and caught up to Mario. The two headed their way to Cream's house.

* * *

_**Adabat, Beach Shore**_

Somewhere in the southern hemisphere of the planet, was the ancient land of Adabat. It was made up of many islands, which were filled with jungles, rivers, waterfalls, cliffs and ruins. The people of Adabat lived in stilt houses, which were placed ocer shallow waters.

At the moment, one of the many islands had a big crater along its beach shores, as if something had crash landed. The area was being investigated by Shadow and Rouge, who were informed of the incident by the government.

"What do you think landed here?" Rouge asked Shadow. The two were surprised something would crash land on the surface out of no where.

"I'm not sure," Shadow answered. "but whatever it is, it must have been something large. You can see by how big it created the crater."

"Do you think it might've been a meteorite or something?" Rouge speculated. She crouched down near the crater, have a closer glimpse at it.

"No, it couldn't have been," Shadow explained. "if it was, the meteor would have been left in the crater. There's nothing inside at the moment, so I'm sure that something came out of it. Something _alive._"

Rouge jumped inside the crater. If Shadow was right that a living creature crash landed there, they would spot a clue of it's presence. Carefully inspecting the inside of the crater, Rouge spotted footprints. "Hey, look at these footprints!"

The footprints showed that whatever landed in the crater, it had climbed out of it and fled into the nearby jungle. The footprints showed the path of the creature. What mystified Shadow and Rouge was the size and the way the footprints were made.

First off, the footprints were surprisingly huge, almost like it was made by an animal. Second, not only were footprints made, but prints of knuckles were made too, suggesting the animal walked on all fours.

"These are some awfully strange footprints," Rouge said, slowly following the footprint path. She turned back to Shadow. "So what do you say, are you ready for some exploring?"

Shadow nodded to her. He was intrigued of who or _what _made the footprints. The two followed the path into the jungle. Who knew what would be at the end of the strange path.

* * *

_**Westside Island, Cream's House**_

"Hello there Mr. Sonic and Mr. Mario!" Cream happily greeted them. She invited the two inside her home. "What makes you two come here on such a lovely day?"

"We came here to return something to you." Sonic said. He handed her the spare bowtie of Cheese. "You left the bowtie back at Tails's House. Tails would've brought it back to you himself if he wasn't so busy at the moment."

"Why thank you, I'm sure Cheese will be happy to have his favorite bowtie back." Cream called Cheese over. The Chao floated over to them and saw the bowtie in the rabbit's hand. He cheered happily at the sight of his bowtie.

"His favorite bowtie?" Mario whispered to Sonic. "Don't they all look the same?"

"Well, one of them's gotta be his favorite." Sonic whispered back.

"Who's down there, Cream?" a voice suddenly spoke from upstairs. Footsteps were heard walking all the way down the stairs. Amy stopped in her tracks as she saw Sonic and Mario with Cream. "Oh...hello."

"Amy!" Sonic exclaimed. The hedgehog was suddenly happy to see her. He started walking up to her when he saw the grim look on her face. Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Hey...is something the matter?"

Amy gave him a shocked look, which quickly turned into a bitter expression. "I can't believe you already forgot Sonic!" She quickly ran back upstairs and slammed the door to Cream's room.

"Was it something I said?" Sonic asked, turning back to Mario and Cream. He scratched his head in confusion. Mario suddenly motioned him to go upstairs and work things out with Amy. Sonic simply shrugged and went up.

"Did something bad happen between them?" Cream asked Mario, giving him a curious look.

"Sort of, but don't worry, I'm-a sure they can fix things." Mario assured her. Cream smiled at him and asked if he'd like some tea and cookies. Of course, Mario accepted.

"Amy...can we talk?" Sonic asked her. He was standing just outside Cream's room, where Amy locked herself in. "Please, you have to speak to me."

"I don't want to speak to you!" Amy shouted at him, throwing a pillow at the locked door. She sat the edge of Cream's bed. She couldn't believe that Sonic had already forgotten what he did to make her angry at him. It's like she wasn't of any importance to him.

There was a sudden silence at the other side of the door. Suddenly, a stomp was heard from Cream's bedroom balcony. Sonic had jumped his way up there and walked into the bedroom. "Amy, please. You have to talk to me at _some _point. I mean, who would resist talking to a funny guy like me?"

Amy gave him a cold glare, then lowered her head in a saddened position.

"That was a joke, by the way." Sonic said with a smile. Seeing that his jokes wouldn't get through Amy, he knew he had to take a more serious approach. He slowly walked up to her and sat beside her. "Amy, I don't like seeing you like this. What's the matter? I want to know."

"...you should already know." Amy said with an annoyed voice. Sonic was confused. Did he? He thought back to the previous days, trying to remember what he did that upset her.

"Uhm...I actually don't..." Sonic said. Amy suddenly lashed out at him.

"I can't believe you _still _don't remember!" Amy shouted at him. "It's no wonder I'm not important to you. All you care about is adventuring and having fun, and because of that you're blinded by other people's feelings!" She quickly grabbed another pillow and swung it at Sonic's face.

"What? Wait a minute...you think that I don't care about other people's feelings?" Sonic repeated her. Amy gave him a quick stare, then stood up and walked to the balcony area. Sonic quickly followed her. "I do care about other people's feelings, Ames."

"...then why did you hurt mine?" Amy asked him.

Sonic gave her a surprised look. Did he really hurt her feelings? Suddenly, he remembered. The fight they had back in Tails's Laboratory, right before the heroes left for Mazuri. "Wait...Amy no! I didn't mean any of those things."

"But it still hurt, Sonic." Amy told him. "It made me feel like I not important to you anymore. It made me feel like you didn't want me around anymore."

"Amy...I didn't mean it like that," Sonic tried to explain. He made her look back at him, causing the two to stare deeply into each others eyes. "What I meant was, that I didn't want you to come because I didn't want to see you get hurt. I did it to protect you. I'd feel terrible if something bad happened to you."

Amy was at loss for words. She couldn't believe what Sonic had said. His word had so much emotion to them that she was sure he meant them and wasn't just saying them to make her feel better. "You really mean that, Sonic?"

Sonic nodded to her and gave a heartwarming smile.

"OOMPH!"

Sonic found himself in a tight hug from Amy. He was happy to see that she forgave him. Sonic returned the hug. The two felt...jubilant...in the warm embrace. They didn't want to let go of each other for some reason. But hey, you can't hold on to anyone forever _literally, _eh?

Back downstairs, Mario and Cream were enjoying a cup of tea and cookies in the living room. They were watching television, enjoying an episode of Cream's favorite cartoon, "Flicky and Friends"

"What is Tails doing right now that is so important to him?" Cream asked them. Mario explained of their journey the last few days. He told her all about their journey in Mazuri, the fight with Orbot and Cubot, their sudden crashing land, Tails's new plans for a bigger aircradt and more importantly, Peach's coma.

"I'm really sorry for you, Mr. Mario." Cream said to him. "I do hope that you and the others wil be able to find a Chaos Emerald to wake Peach from her coma."

Mario nodded to her. He thought about her Peach was doing right now back in the clinic at Apotos. He hoped she was still doing well for someone in a comatose state. Mario remembered about his other friends.

_Donkey Kong...Wario...Luigi...I hope they're still alright...even Junior._

"We interrupt your regular broadcasting for this important news flash." the anchor lady from the television spoke. Mario and Cream payed close attention to the news flash, wondering what was so important.

"Earlier today we announced that a comet had landed somwhere in the islands of Adabat. Now, we bring you yet another sighting of a comet crash. This time, we have a clip sent by an amatuar cameraman of what came out of this comet."

The television showed the mentioned clip. The area was located near a few ruins of pillars, some partly submerged in water. Mountains and trees were seen in the background. The cameraman was hiding behind some bushes, recording what came out of the comet. The comet had landed in the water by the pillars.

Out came a familiar purple cat, with a ponytail, purple jacket, white pants and pink high-heeled shoes. The cat had looked around it's surroundings before heading further into the ruins. Cream had instantly recognized the cat.

"Blaze!" Cream exclaimed. "That was Blaze! I can't believe she's here! in our world!" She began to ponder for a minute. Why would Blaze be visiting all of a sudden? And how did she get here in the first place?

Mario began to think too. He remembered about the purple shot of light that suddenly struck the Tornado II and caused it to crash. Blaze was thr same colors as the light. Could that have been her?

"Someone has to find her," Cream said to Mario. "Blaze doesn't know much of our world to know where she is going."

"But how? We don't even know where she is!" Mario stated. The two listened further to the news report. It said that the recording took place nearby the Aquatic Ruin Zone, which was on Westside Island.

"Blaze is on the island!" Cream exclaimed. She looked up to Mario and held her hands together. "Please, Mr. Mario, you have to find Blaze." Mario thought about it for a moment and nodded to Cream.

"Okie-dokie! We'll find her!" Mario promised Cream. The rabbit thanked him. By this time, Sonic and Amy were walking down the stairs.

"We suddenly heard Cream shouting downstairs. What seems to be the ruckus?" Sonic asked them. Cream explained about Blaze's sudden crash landing near the Aquatic Ruins.

"Blaze is in our world?" Amy repeated Cream. She turned to Sonic. "You really should find Blaze. She could be in danger if she's left alone by herself."

Sonic nodded to her. He turned to Mario, who nodded back to him. The two quickly said goodbye to Amy and Cream and headed their way back to Emerald Town to tell the others about Blaze's misfortune.

* * *

_**Eggman's Secret Headquarters, Robot Holding Warehouse**_

Somewhere, deep in Eggman's Headquarters, was a gigantic room that held all of the deactivated robots and badniks. All types of robots that were made to stop Sonic in the past were stored there for safe keeping.

Right now, Orbot and Cubot were floating on the bridge that was above and overlooked the whole room, giving them a glimpe of how many robots were stored.

"Wow, there are so many robots in here that the doctor stored." Cubot said in awe. He looked down and started counting one by one how many robots were stored in the warehouse.

"Do you know what we must do, Cubot my friend?" Orbot asked him. Cubot thought for a moment, already forgetting what Orbot told him earlier.

"Err...sorry Orbot, I forgot. Mind if you update me again?"

"Fine..." Orbot sighed. He reminded Cubot of their backup plan that he brilliantly came up with after realizing the Interceptor was now lost within the Mystic Cave zone. With no other option left to find Mario, Orbot figured out about Eggman's army of stored robots.

They planned to activate all the robots held within the warehouse and let them loose free around the world. Doing so would make things easier in finding Mario, as there would be a huge amount of robots looking for him spread across the planet, and most importantly, Orbot and Cubot wouldn't need to do anything.

"Are you sure it's the right thing to do, Orbot?" Cubot asked him. "I mean, there's a reason Eggman is holding all these robots. He could be saving them up for some huge master plan in the future! It would be wrong to abuse his things for our own."

"Cubot, you do remember that our doctor is missing, right?" Orbot reminded him. "We'd be doing him a favor if we release these robot all at once. He'd want us to do this to find him."

"...okay! We'll do this for Eggman!" Cubot exclaimed. "Can I at least activate the robots myself?" Orbot sighed again and handed Cubot the "Master Activation Button" Cubot slammed on the button.

Suddenly, all the robots in the warehouse activated. Their eyes glowed in activation. Egg Fighters, Egg Launchers, Egg Pawns, Aero-Cannons, Aero-Chasers etc. They all activated. And they all wondered what to do.

"Attention all badniks!" Orbot shouted to all the robots below. "I must announce that our master, Dr. Eggman has gone missing. Our only lead is a plumber, with a red cap, blue overalls and a very fancy moustache. He most likely knows where Eggman is at, and it is your job to find him!"

All the badniks gave out mechanical noises and electronic beeps. With their only command, they were now determined to find the person Orbot described to them: Mario.

They would stop at nothing to capture him.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_A whole army of badniks are now looking for Mario! Will they succeed? And will Mario and Sonic be able to find Blaze before something bad happens to her? And will Shadow and Rouge find the creature that came out of the comet in Adabat? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**A/N: Chapter complete! A lot seems to happen over the course of this chapter. Tails's plan to build the heroes a new aircraft, with the help of Knuckles, Shadow and Rouge's investigation of the comet in Adabat, Orbot and Cubot's crazy scheme to capture Mario by releasing an army of badniks after him, Blaze's sudden appearance and Sonic and Amy's relationship rekindling.**

**Haha, that's a lot of events, eh? But this story is epic, so it can handle ot. ;)**

**I want to say, I'm using the term "relationship" lightly. It's not an offical pairing in this story, as of right now at least.**

**For the scene with Sonic and Amy, I tried to put some emotion in it. I mean, it's been about 7-8 chapters since we've seen them together, so it should have some meaning to it.**

**And for Blaze fans, rejoice! After so many hint and teases, Blaze finally appears in the story! See what will unfold next chapter as the heroes try to find her in the Aquatic Ruins! :D**

**It seemed like people were shocked when I pulled off that April Fools joke last week. I pretended I was going to "leave" the story and stop writing. I apologize for those that I scared. It was meant to be a harmless prank, but I guess people reacted on the negative side. **

**That's all I have to say for this week. Hope you guys enjoyed this week's chapter! Reviews appreciated! And make sure you come back next week for the next chapter! Bye for now!**

_**-Azurixx**_

_**I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega.**_


	59. A Friend in Need!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**Chapter 59: A Friend In Need!**

* * *

**_Westside Island, Aquatic Ruin Zone_**

Near the western part of the island, was a huge lake, which sprouted many rivers that floated towards the ocean. Ruins submerged in water scattered across the area. Lush meadows and countless trees surrounded the area.

At this time, Mario, Sonic and Yoshi were venturing around the area. They had arrived there early evening, just as the sun started to set near the area. The trio had one goal in mind.

"We have to find Blaze." Sonic said to them.

"Are you sure just the three of us will be able to find her?" Yoshi asked. When Mario and Sonic told him, Tails and Knuckles about what happened, Yoshi quickly volunteered. The other two said they couldn't come, due to them working on their new aircraft.

"How hard is it to find a purple cat?" Mario asked. Suddenly, he cupped his hands around his mouth and began to call out. "Here kitty kitty kitty! Come out wherever you are!"

"Mario...that's not going to work..." Sonic told him, rolling his eyes in the process.

"Hey, atleast I tried!" Mario defended himself. As the trio continued walking through the forest-filled submerged ruins, they came across an area where a crater had been created in a shallow pool of water.

"Could this be where she landed?" Yoshi asked, running up to the crater for a better look.

"There's no doubt about it," Mario said. He recognized the area from the news report. It looked exactly like what he had seen from the clip. Mario could even see the bushes where the cameraman recorded the whole situation.

"We're getting closer." Sonic said. He turned to Mario. "Do you remember which direction Blaze ran off to?" Mario looked around for a minute, then pointed to a path that opened between the trees. It had two rows of pillars standing side by side around the path. The trio headed in that direction.

"Hey...is it me, or does anyone hear this roaring sound?" Yoshi said as he tried to listen to the noise. Mario and Sonic also tried listening as they walked. They heard a distant roaring sound, and it slowly became louder.

"I wonder what that is." Mario said. "Do you think it's some sort of animal?" Sonic wasn't sure and Yoshi hoped for his life that if it _was _an animal, it wasn't something big with razor sharp teeth. The three had to find Blaze though, so they continued on their path.

"Whoa! Stop!" Sonic said, putting his hand in front to stop Mario and Yoshi behind them.

"Huh? What's the matter?" Yoshi asked. "Did you see the animal? Is it big and scary?"

Sonic shook his head. Looking down, he pointed to what the roaring sound was. The trio had reached the edge of a cliff without nknowing. Below them, was a waterfall that fell out of a cavern in the cliff below the heroes.

"Wow...did not see that coming." Mario said, gazing at the waterfall. The waterfall flowed into a big river below, which made many curves and turns through the forest and ruins. "How do we get down?"

"We jump! Simple enough." Sonic exclaimed, giving the two a grin. In a split second, Sonic jumped off the cliff, spinning into a ball and landed safely on the ground below, next to the river. Mario and Yoshi followed him.

"Okay! Where to next?" Mario asked them. "We have this whole forest expansion to search through. Odds are, Blaze is somewhere here."

"Hold on...I smell something..." Yoshi said, sniffing the air. He began sniffing the ground, as if he found the aroma of something. He began to walk along the river bank. Mario and Sonic were clueless to what was happening, and simply followed Yoshi.

The two followed him near the riverbank, then through a few ruins. There were large, beige stone walls in the way, so the heroes had to jump over them, running over top the walls. Jumping back into the forest, they passed a small field of pillars, before coming into a bush by some trees.

"Where are you leading us, Yoshi? Did you find the scent of Blaze?" Sonic asked him as the dinosaur was searching through the bush.

"Who said anything about Blaze?" Yoshi said, popping his head out of the bush. In his hand, was a pile of strawberries. His mouth was already covered in strawberry juice. The scent that Yoshi found was the strawberry patch. His ever returning hunger overpowered him to find the strawberries.

"Mamamia! Yoshi! Do you know how much time we wasted following you?" Mario yelled at him in frustration. "We could have been searching for Blaze all this time! Now who knows where she could've gone by now!"

"Pffftt! I was going to share some of these strawberries with you guys, but I see how it is..." Yoshi grumbled at them, turning his back from them and continuing to snack on his strawberries.

All of a sudden, the trio heard a moaning sound off in the distance. It came in the direction deeper in the forest. The three looked at each other and slowly walked towards the moaning noise.

After a while, they came across another clearing. There was a small cliff that stuck out of the ground. It was located beside a lake. At the top of the cliff, was a few crumbled pillars. Beside one of the pillars, sitting against it, was Blaze.

"It's Blaze!" Sonic said aloud. He quickly rushed up to her side, with Mario and Yoshi following closely behind. Blaze had many bruises around her body. Part of her jacket and pants were ripped. She showed signs of being beaten badly.

"Who could have done something like this?" Yoshi gasped, dropping all his strawberries in the process.

"We must get her help." Mario told them. Sonic nodded. He tried to pick Blaze up, but when he touched her, she felt a sudden surge of pain well up through her body.

"Ouch...that hurts..." Blaze moaned. She slowly moved her head and opened her eyes, seeing the trio standing in front of her. She quickly recognized one of them. "S-Sonic?"

"The one and only." Sonic said, giving her a grin. "Come on, we need to get you some help. You're badly injured." Sonic carefully lifted her off the ground. Yoshi allowed her to sit on his saddle.

"Thank you..." Blaze said. She had a small strain in her voice.

"Don't mention it," Sonic told her. He motioned Yoshi to start walking. "So, mind if you tell me how you got roughed up like this?" Blaze took the time to remember what happened in the previous hours.

"Well...I was walking through the area..." Blaze began to explain. "I could not familiarize my surroundings...so I easily got lost...I came up to this lake area when I saw something in the waters...something shiny." Suddenly, Blaze felt a pain in her stomach. She held her hand against it.

"Don't overwork yourself." Sonic told her. Blaze nodded to him and continued her story.

"I picked up the shining object...it happened to be one of the seven Chaos Emeralds..."

"Did you say Chaos Emerald?" Mario repeated her. Blaze nodded to him, just realizing the plumber was there. "What color was it? Wait, no...I should be asking where is it."

Blaze raised an eyebrow at him. She had never met Mario before, so she was reluctant to give him the information. She turned to Sonic, who explained to her that him and Yoshi were with the good guys. Blaze told them about the Chaos Emerald.

"The Chaos Emerald was purple...and I lost it."

"What, did you drop it or something? That's a little clumsy." Yoshi commented on her.

"Do not simply judge me like that!" Blaze hissed at Yoshi, scaring the dinosaur a little bit. He quickly apologized. "Anyway...I did not simply lose it. Someone had taken it from me..."

"Who?" Sonic asked her. "Do you remember what he looked like? What he sounded like?"

"The perpetrator was wearing a black jumpsuit..." Blaze explained. She took the time to remember what they looked like. "And he had this green bandana around his neck. And they were also wearing this black mask...and had a very fasionable moustache."

"It sounds like they were trying to hide their true identity." Mario suggested. The characteristics intruged him. Especially the "fasionable moustache" statement.

"They suddenly attacked me..." Blaze continued her story. "I quickly dodged their attacks, but this one attack caught me off guard. His jumping skills were impressive, which prevented me from getting a hit on him...when I wasn't looking, he pulled off this powerful uppercut. And after that...he deliberatly started beating me to make sure I couldn't chase after him...when they took the Chaos Emerald."

"This guy sounds violent." Sonic stated. Yoshi shuddered all of a sudden. The thought of the perpetrator scated him a little. Everything about him frightened the dinosaur. They way they acted. The way they dressed.

"What puzzles me though, is before he left...he apologized to me." Blaze told them. "His voice...sounded like he was troubled...like was hesitant in attacking me..."

"Seems like he was scared." Mario added. He could relate through Luigi's hesitation to fight against enemies back in their world. Luigi's hesitation would mostly come out from his panic. Mario turned to Blaze. "So I'm guessing after he attacked you, he fled?"

Blaze nodded to him. She was sure the perpetrator who attacked her was long gone from the Aquatic Ruins. There was no need to try and find them.

By that time, the heroes had reached the waterfall cliff that Mario, Sonic and Yoshi jumped down from earlier. They began to wonder how'd they scale back to the top when suddenly, they heard a loud stomping noise within the forest.

"Do you guys hear that?" Yoshi said, perking his head up to listen to the stomping noise. The others silently listened, wondering what was making the stomping noise.

Suddenly, something jumped out of the bushes. It appeared to be a blue robot, with a cauldren-shaped body, arms and legs, and a small head. It was none other than the Egg Fighters of Dr. Eggman! The robot was followed by two more Egg Fighters. The robots surrounded the heroes.

"Where did these robots come from?" Mario shouted surprised at the sudden attack.

"They're Eggman's robots!" Sonic told him. He wondered how the robots found them. "I have a feeling Orbot and Cubot had something to do with these. Those two just won't stop harrassing us, will they?"

The robots clawed forward at them, all speaking out one word in their robotic voices. "GET MARIO! GET MARIO!"

"Mamamia! What do they want with me?" Mario gasped. Sonic shrugged. He assumed Orbot and Cubot commanded the Egg Fighters to capture Mario. They must still believed the plumber had somethinf to do with Eggman's disappearance.

_Man, those two are stubborn._ Sonic thought to himself.

"ATTACK! ATTACK!" one of the Egg Fighters shouted. The robots suddenly lunged at the heroes. Quickly reacting, Sonic jumped in the air and did a Homing Attack on the two of them, destroying them instantly. Mario followed suite and jumped on the last Egg Fighter, knocking it into the river beside them and destroying it.

"Hey! Nice one!" Sonic commented, giving Mario a high-five.

"Don't think you've won yet. Look up!" Blaze alerted them, pointing towards the sky. Flying towards them, were two large yellow robots, with what appeared to be jetpack-like objects on their backs. They were the Aero Chasers.

"Yoshi! You need to get Blaze to safety." Sonic demanded. "Mario and I will take care of these guys." Yoshi nodded to him and ran back into the forest, intending to find a way up the cliff.

The Aero Chasers spotted Mario and Sonic. They quickly flew towards the two. Missiles suddenly shot out of their jetpacks, aiming their way towards the two. They easily dodged the missile explosion.

"Come on! I know a way to get rid of these guys." Sonic said. He motioned Mario to follow him. The two ran along the riverbank. The Aero Chasers quickly followed, continuing to shoot missiles at them.

The chase lasted around the forest area, leading it's way near the ruins submerged in water. Mario and Sonic carefully hopped their way on the pillars of the ruins. The Aero Chasers shot their missiles, which began to break down the ruins.

"Hey! Over here!" Sonic taunted the Aero Chasers. He was standing beside a tall pillar that stuck out of the water. One of the Aero Chasers saw him and floated near him for a closer shot. The missile aimed at Sonic, who jumped out of the way at the last second. The missiles hit the pillar, causing it to collapse and crash down onto the Aero Chaser, destroying it.

"Okay! My turn!" Mario exclaimed. He hopped in front of another tall pillar and got the attention of the remaining Aero Chaser. Unexpectedly, the Aero Chaser began to charge a blue laser from it's jetpack.

"Mario! Watch out!" Sonic warned him. But it was too late. The laser shot towards Mario, knocking him against the tall pillar behind him and making him fall into the waters below.

"That wasn't nice, buddy!" Sonic shouted at the Aero Chaser. The hedgehog jumped up to the Aero Chaser and did a Homing Attack on it, destroying it with ease. Sonic landed on the spot Mario was just on and looked into the water. "Mario! Are you alright?"

Bubbles surfaced from the area that Mario landed in. The plumber swam up to the surface, spitting out water in the process. He gave a thumbs-up to Mario. "Don't worry! I just took an unexpected dip! But I'm okie-dokie!"

"You know, to me that would've been a fatal blow, knowing I hate water." Sonic called down to the plumber. He motioned the plumber to get out of the water. "Come on! We need to find Yoshi and Blaze! They could be anywhere by now."

Meanwhile, Yoshi was still running through the forest, trying to find them an alternate route up the cliffs. Blaze held in tightly to the dinosaur's saddle. It was her first time riding a dinosaur, and it was no surprise it felt weird to her.

"...I believe I haven't seen you before since my last visit in Sonic's world," Blaze said to Yoshi. "May you tell me who exactly are you?"

"I'm Yoshi!" the dinosaur introduced himself, smiling at Blaze. "I'm a friend of Mario and Sonic. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"I'm assuming this Mario person you are talking about was that guy in red who was with us a few moments ago." Blaze said. Yoshi nodded to her. She thought for a moment. "Do you also live around here? Or are you just visitors?"

"Uhm...we're visitors," Yoshi explained. "We came from another world!" Blaze simply looked at him in disbelief. She wasn't sure if she heard him right.

"I'm sorry, did you just say another world?"

"Yup!" Yoshi answered her gleefully. "It's nothing special really." Blaze went quiet for a minute. Was there really another world other than hers and Sonic's? She thought her head was playing games with her due to her injuries.

"What about you? Did you come from another world?" Yoshi asked her. Blaze simply nodded. "Why did you come to Sonic's world then? Are you also visiting as well?"

"...not really." Blaze spoke. She remembered her mission. Her reason why she came to Sonic's world. It was regards to an artifact that suddenlt disappeared from her dimension once again. "...I'm here to find the Jeweled Sceptor."

Yoshi remembered about the Jeweled Sceptor. It was one of the artifacts that the heroes had recovered back in Mario's world. All along, the Master Emerald and Jeweled Sceptor were fakes created by Metal Sonic. Blaze had gone through the same thing Knuckles went through when they realized they had fakes all along. The real ones were still lost in Sonic's world.

"Don't worry, Blaze. We're also looking for the Jeweled Sceptor too. We'll help you find it." Yoshi suddenly encouraged her. Blaze was surprised by the dinosaur's words. Not much people showed her kindness like that, other than Sonic and his friends.

The two came across another cliff, only this time, it had ledges that Yoshi could jump on. Yoshi warned Blaze to hold on tight as he jumped his way up the cliff. When he got halfway up, Blaze noticed something in the sky.

"Watch out! It's another one of those robots!" Blaze warned Yoshi. The dinosaur looked into the sky, seeing an Aero Chaser flying towards them. Yoshi knew he had to scale the cliff as fast as he could.

The Aero Chaser shot a laser at the two. It broke down the ledge they had just jumped off of. It shot another laser at them, barely missing them.

"Can't this robot just buzz off?" Yoshi complained as he just reached the top of the cliff. He quickly ran away from the Aero Chaser when suddenly he was knocked forward by a powerful force. A missile landed right behind him, exploding and knocking him and Blaze away.

"Ouch!" Blaze moaned as she landed on the ground. Her injuries made the landing a little more painful than it neede to be. She looked to Yoshi, who was cornered by the Aero Chaser. It was about to shoot a laser at him. "Oh no you don't!"

Blaze aimed her hand towards the Aero Chaser and activated her pyrokinesis skills. The robot suddenly combusted in flames. It flew around aimlessly, trying to exstinguish the fire, but to no avail. The Aero Chaser ended up crashing into the ground below the cliff.

"Whoa..." Yosh gasped in a surprised voice. He turned to her, giving her an amazed look. "Since when did you get a Fire Flower?" Blaze gave him a confused look and explained about her fire abilities. "It doesn't matter though, because that was cool!"

"...thanks." Blaze said. Yoshi allowed her to climb back onto his saddle. He led them back to where the heroes entered the Aquatic Ruins. To Blaze, it was her landing zone.

"There you guys are!" a voice called out to them. It was Sonic and Mario. The two rushed up to them, relieved that they were okay.

"You alright, Blaze? Did Yoshi cause you any trouble?" Sonic asked. Blaze assured them she was fine. She even patted Yoshi's head, praising his commitment to protect her.

"Well, it's good that you two are safe." Mario exclaimed. He scratched his head. "Although, now that one problem is gone, another problem has risen. Those robots want me! And not in a good way!"

"Don't worry, we'll figure out something." Sonic assured the plumber. "Right now, we need to get Blaze somewhere safe so she can rest. I even have the perfect place in mind."

The heroes headed their way out of the Aquatic Ruins. With a friend safe and sound, they could now rest, and hopefully resume their quest for the Chaos Emeralds.

* * *

_**The heroes have successfully rescued Blaze! But it seems like Eggman's badniks have already found their way to Mario! Could this be a sign to more trouble? And who may have been the mysterious perpetrator that stole the Chaos Emerald from Blaze? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: Chapter complete! This chapter took me awhile to complete. Man, did I stay up late to finish this. It's 2 o'clock right now, in the morning. I hope my work will be all worth it. That's all up to you guys, if you know what I mean. ;)**

**The Aquatic Ruin Zone was another level first seen in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I wish I'd written more scenes underwater in this chapter, but I had to condense it to prevent the plot from dragging on.**

**I don't know why I put so much Sonic the Hedgehog 2 levels. Maybe it's because I like the game so much. Meh, but I'm also putting a bunch of Sonic Unleashed levels in this story too.**

**I feel like I didn't get Blaze's personality presented correctly. In the games, she's shown as shy to people she doesn't know, but in this chapter, she seems to be open with Yoshi. I guess that's okay, since later in the games, she's taught to be more friendly to others by Sonic.**

**Just be glad I put her in the story. I've been waiting quite a while to add her in.**

**I'm glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter. I appreciate your feedback. It's one of the few reasons why I still continue on with this story. **

**Thanks for reading this week's chapter. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the story! Reviews appreciated! Come back next week to read the latest chapter of this epic tale! Bye for now! :D**

**_-Azurixx_**

**_I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega._**


	60. The Struggles!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 60: The Struggles!_**

* * *

**_Abandoned Scrap Brain Zone, Main Control room_**

Sitting alone in the control room, was the familiar green 'stached plumber. He sat in the corner of the room. For some reason, he was shuddering in shock. He was still surprised for his actions earlier that day. He couldn't believe what he had done.

"Why...why did I do that?" Luigi whispered to himself. He looked beside him. Laying on the floor, was the Emerald Radar that Metal Sonic gave to him, and the Purple Chaos Emerald he'd stolen.

The image was stuck in his mind. He remembered the face of the person he attacked to retrieve the Chaos Emerald. Luigi had found them near a lake on Westside Island, atleast that's what he remembered it being called on the Emerald Radar.

They were in so much pain, because of _him_.

"I did what I had to do...right?" Luigi wondered. He slowly began nodding to himself. He had no choice but to do it. That person was in his way of achieving his goal. "Metal Sonic...he would have wanted me to do that."

Luigi picked up the Purple Chaos Emerald. He reached into his pocket and took out the Blue Chaos Emerald, which glowed in his hand. He now had two of the seven Chaos Emeralds in possession.

"I need to find the remaining five." Luigi spoke to himself. Only then, could he and Metal Sonic enter the Negative Dimension and gain unlimited power for themselves.

"But can I find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds?" Luigi wondered to himself. The more important question he should ask, was if he had the courage to find them. The quest for the Purple Chaos Emerald was not easy for Luigi, as he had to _make_ someone suffer for it. He felt sorry for that person.

Luigi wondered if he was a villain. He did do bad things, but Metal Sonic told them they weren't evil. He trusted Metal Sonic's judgement, but yet he felt something was wrong about their actions. Luigi felt like he wasn't being his _true _self.

But yet, Metal Sonic told him he was always like this. They had always been partners. Metal Sonic was even there when Luigi had suffered from amnesia.

But then the words from Rouge sprung in his head. She had told him that Metal Sonic was manipulative. And she seemed positive about it.

"No...she has to be wrong...is she?" Luigi said to himself once again. She didn't know Metal Sonic like he did. But yet, he never knew about Metal Sonic before either, until the robot took him under his wing. Metal Sonic couldn't have been manipulative. They were friends, right? Yet, the robot's commands made Luigi do something he felt deeply terrible of committing.

"...I need to get back on track." Luigi said, calming himself down. He took a deep breath and set his mind back on his current goal. He put the Chaos Emeralds back in his pocket and started up the Emerald Radar. The only thing he could do now was to find the Chaos Emeralds for Metal Sonic.

_I wonder what Metal Sonic is doing right now._

* * *

**_Westside Island, Cream's House_**

It was night time when the heroes arrived at Cream's house. They all gathered inside the living room area. Blaze sat down on the couch, drinking a warm cup of tea. She had a bandage wrapped around a bruise on her arm.

"I'm so glad you're alright Blaze." Cream said to her as she sat beside her. The rabbit was glad to see her friend again, and was more glad to see her doing well.

"I'd feel much better, if my head didn't hurt." Blaze commenterd, referring to her injuries. "but all that aside, it's nice to see you again Cream." She gave a quick hug to the rabbit.

"Aww...that's sweet." Yoshi commented while he secretly ate all the cookies which were left on the table for Blaze.

"It's great to see you again Blaze," Amy said as she sat down beside her. "How is everything back in your world?" Blaze lowered her head, as if remembering a terrible thought.

"...it's not going well." Blaze began. She started explaining about the dilemma of the Jeweled Sceptor. After Sonic returned it to her, immediately when she placed it back in it's altar, the Jeweled Sceptor suddenly disintegrated into dust. Shocked by this, Blaze decided to come to Sonic for answers. She used the power of the Sol Emeralds to teleport to Sonic's world.

However, to keep the Sol Emeralds safe, she left them in her world.

"That sounds familiar," Sonic said, referring to the destruction of the Jeweled Sceptor. It reminded him of when Knuckles explained how the fake Master Emerald broke apart into nothing but dust. "That wasn't the real Jeweled Sceptor, Blaze. It was a fake."

"Are you positive about that?" Blaze asked. Sonic nodded fo her. "It all makes sense now. The Jeweled Sceptor possesses immense power. There's no way it could have broken down by itself due to physical abuse."

The heroes began to explain their current situation of the scattered Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, the Jeweled Sceptor and Mario's lost friends. They also took the time to explain of Metal Sonic's former plan to use the emeralds for his path to ultimate power by going into the Negative Dimension.

"I see, so all of this is because of that robot." Blaze thought for a moment. She gave the heroes a determined look. "I want to help you."

"That's great to hear Blaze, but right now you must rest." Cream told her. "I don't want to see you get hurt again. It would make me sad if I did." At first, Blaze wanted to protest, but she saw the emotion in Cream's eyes.

"...alright. For now, I'll rest." Blaze assured her. She turned back to Sonic. "Do you have any idea on where the rest of the Chaos Emeralds might be?" Sonic scratched his head, taking the time to remember their known locations.

"Well, we know that the Chaos Emerald you found is with some maniac in a green bandana. Tails has the Red Chaos Emerald with him, while those two robots of Eggman stole the yellow one from us."

"That leaves four emeralds for us to find." Yoshi stated. He suddenly sighed. "And yet, we actually only have one. We're not doing well right now..." Mario patted him on the saddle.

"Cheer up, Yoshi!" Mario said in an enthusiastic voice. "We've faced through many tough challenges and obstacles in the past. If we could overcome those, then we can definitely overcome this problem!"

"But still...that doesn't change the fact that our friends are still missing." Yoshi said sadly. Mario remembered about them. He suddenly tightened his fist. He promised himself that he would save their friends.

_No matter what._

"It's getting pretty late." Amy alerted the heroes. "We should probably head our way home."

The others agreed. They said their goodbyes to Cream and Blaze and headed their way back to Emerald Town, looking forward to a well-deserved rest.

* * *

_**Adabat, Jungle Ruins**_

It was eerily dark within the jungles of Adabat. At this time, wild creatures would roam around the jungle, looking for things to eat. It was a dangerous place to venture through, and only the bravest explorers would dare going around at this time.

"GAH! Curse these annoying flies!" Shadow shouted, agitated by the many flies that flew around him, as if they were attracted to him in some way. He vigorously swatted around him, trying to shoo away the flies. "Grrr! Don't these bugs have anything better to do?"

"Does anything _not_ bother you, Shadow?" Rouge asked him. Shadow gave her an irritated glare, then resumed swatting at the flies.

The two were sneaking through the bushes of the jungle, following the path of the creature that landed near the shores of the island. They had been following the path all day. It seemed like the creature wandered around endlessly, as if trying figuring out where it was.

"Honestly, what is this creature trying to accomplish?" Shadow began to question. "It is aware they are lost, so what is the point of them trying to find their way back home? Most likely they're miles away from home if they came down crashing from a comet. How did they even turn into a comet in the first place? How ridiculous must they be right now."

"Will you stop whining?" Rouge retorted. "You sound like a child complaining to his mother about not buying him candy."

"I am no child!" Shadow shouted at her. "I am the ultimate lifeform, the strongest living being in this world. It's dishonourable to relate me to a simple child!"

"Whatever you say," Rouge said, rolling her eyes. She held in a small chuckle. It was humorous to her when Shadow got all defensive like he was now. It was sort of his weakness to his serious side. Suddenly, a loud snap came from a few feet. "Did you hear that?"

"No...the constant buzzing of these pestering flies prevented me from hearing what you heard."

"Enough with the flies!" Rouge snapped at him. She signalled him to shut up and follow her to the sound of the snap. They crawled quietly through the bushes, until they came across a small clearing in the jungle.

Sitting in the middle of the clearing, was what appeared to be a gorilla. It had brown fur, but what made it distinct was it's red tie around it's neck. It appeared to have the initials "DK" on it.

"Is that...a very large chimpanzee?" Shadow asked.

"...are you kidding me? It's a gorilla." Rouge corrected him. The two carefully inspected the gorilla. They wondered if that was the creature that came out of the comet.

"Now that we've found your creature, what do you plan on doing next?" Shadow asked.

"I'll contact the governement and see what instructions they'll have for us." Rouge explained. She quickly turned on her radio and contacted her supervisor, explaining they had found the creature from the comet. After a brief conversation, Rouge turned to Shadow. "They want us to capture it."

"But it's only a mere gorilla," Shadow told her. "What harm can it do? They most terrifying thing it could do is eat all the world's banana population."

"Well, that gorilla literally came out of a comet, so it must have come from space. Or possibly another world," Rouge explained. "If we catch this gorilla, the government could do some tests on it and see where it originates. And who knows, that thing may be a danger to us, so it's better if we kept it in a cage, am I right?"

"Ridiculous...the humans are afraid of some space gorilla." Shadow groaned under his breath. But yet, he decided to help Rouge capture the mysterious gorilla. He could use the excitement.

At the moment, the gorilla had found a banana and was happily munching on it. It was glad to have something to eat after scouring around the jungle for hours.

Taking the opportunity, Shadow and Rouge snuck behind the gorilla. They were about to attack it, when the gorilla suddenly swung it's arms behind him, barely missing the two. It looked back to them, giving them an angry look.

"How did it know it was behind us? We were quiet as a mouse!" Rouge pondered.

"This gorilla must possess some supersonic hearing abilties." Shadow suggested. At the moment, the gorilla began pounding it's chest and roared at them. "Hmph! It thinks it can scare us. Dumb gorilla! It's unaware of my power to be frightened. I'll show it a thing or two."

"Did you just call me dumb?" the gorilla suddenly shouted at Shadow. "Nobody calls Donkey Kong dumb!"

"...the gorilla just talked." Rouge said in bewilderment. She suddenly gave a smirk. "The goverenment will definitely want to see this." She quickly motioned Shadow to start attacking. The two lunged forward at the gorilla.

Donkey Kong quickly reacted by swatting them away with a forceful punch. It knocked the two back into the bushes of the jungle.

"I'm impressed. The beast reacted quickly to us." Shadow commented, quickly recovering to his feet. "And it possesses astonishing strength. Yet, it won't be enough to stop me though."

Shadow reached into his pocket, taking out the Green Chaos Emerald. He took control of it's power and instantly flashed away from his position, reappearing behind Donkey Kong's back. He punched the gorilla in the back, pushing him forward.

"Grr! Donkey Kong won't let you get away with that!" The gorilla shouted in anger. He threw another punch towards Shadow, but this time the hedgehog was prepared and used Chaos Control to dodge the attack.

"I didn't think so." Shadow taunted. He appeared behind Donkey Kong's back once again and threw a powerful kick, energized by the power of the Chaos Emerald. It caused Donkey Kong to fly away from the force, landing somewhere else in the jungle.

"What are you doing Shadow! Do you remember we need to catch that gorilla? You just let it fly a few hundred feet deeper into the jungle!" Rouge scolded him.

"Is that the thanks I get for trying to help you?" Shadow said, Raising an eyebrow at her.

"What you're doing is the opposite at the moment." Rouge told him. "Come on! We need to find that gorilla!"

The two hurried into the direction where Shadow sent the gorilla flying. After traversing through the jungle, they came upon a a stone bridge that went over a trench. At the bottom, was a rushing river rapid. On the other side of the bridge, was a large temple built into the side of a humongous cliff. It had ruined pillars, statues, staircases and large hallways built inside it.

"I don't see any signs of that gorilla." Shadow stated. "We may have lost it."

"Yeah, probably because you decided to be a show off again." Rouge mocked him.

Suddenly, they heard a groaning noise from ahead of them. There, was the gorilla, climbing out of the pile of stone rubble near the temple entrance. It shook it's head in dizziness.

"Man, I wasn't expecting that..." Donkey Kong continued groaning. He looked up and saw Shadow and Rouge crossing the stone bridge towards him. Panicking, Donkey Kong fled into the temple, climbing up the stairway.

Shadow and Rouge followed him inside the temple. They found themselves in a large room. There was a broken stairway, leading up to the higher levels of the temple. Two statues, depicting monks, were standing In the middle, a few feet away from each other.

"Where's that damn gorilla now?" Shadow growled. He was getting tired of chasing after their bounty. "It keeps running away like a scared puppy!"

"Don't lose focus now, Shadow." Rouge told him. The two walked towards the broken stairway, thinking that the gorilla somehow climbed it's way up.

They were wrong.

"GRRRAAAWWRRR!" Donkey Kong roared loudly as he jumped from behind one of the statues. He held both fists up and slammed them onto the ground, creating a small shockwave that knocked Shadow and Rouge off their feet. Donkey Kong quickly ran up to them to throw another slam attack, but Shadow and Rouge dodged in time.

"Why don't you try this on for size?" Rouge taunted. She ran up to Donkey Kong and initiates her Screw Kick maneuver. Using her heels, she kicked Donkey Kong into the air and performed rapid spinning kicks at him. With the last blow, she sent him flying into one of the statues in the room. Donkey Kong landed a few feet from the statue.

"Time to finish this off!" Shadow yelled. He held up his hand, suddenly charging up a yellow lightning bolt, made up of Chaos energy from his emerald. He swiftly shot it towards the statue. "Chaos Spear!"

The Chaos Spear struck the statue, causing it to collapse and fall to it's side. Unfortunately for Donkey Kong, he was in the statues way. The statue landed on him, creating a loud thud when it landed on his body.

"Ugh..." Donkey Kong moaned. He used the last of his energy to try and carry himself out from under the statue, but it was no use. He slumped back onto the ground, losing consciousness.

"Finally. We're done." Shadow said, he walked up to the fallen Donkey Kong, shaking his head in the process. "What a troublesome gorilla. Should've just called animal control to make our lives easier."

"Did you just make a joke, Shadow? Because that was actually kind of funny." Rouge told him, giving out a small chuckle.

"You're saying I don't have a sense of humor?" Shadow asked, giving her an annoyed look. Rouge simply shrugged.

"Anyway, I should call the government now so they can carry this huge beast out of here." Rouge walked out of the temple in order to get a signal from her radio.

Shadow kneeled towards Donkey Kong, lifting up the necktie. He rubbed the cloth and read the initials "DK" on it. He wondered where Donkey Kong had come from.

"You're a big mystery to me." Shadow whispered to himself. "But we'll find out about your origins soon enough. I just hope your a fan of military confinement."

_._

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_Donkey Kong has been captured! What plans could the government have in store for him? Will the heroes ever find out about his troubled state? And Luigi now possesses two Chaos Emeralds! Will he be able to find the rest before the heroes? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**A/N: Chapter complete! Sorry if it seems a bit short. There's not much I could've added to make this chapter "better" in a a way that adds more plot without stretching the action.**

**The meaning of this chapter's title is to symbolize what troubles some of the character's are going through, whether it'd be physical or mental. In Donkey Kong's state, he is struggling against the force of Shadow and Rouge. In Luigi's state, he struggling to the fact whether or not he really is evil after what he had done to Blaze.**

**It looks like a made a mistake with the dialogue last chapter. There was a part where the Egg Fighters were supposed to speak one word, but ended up saying two. Thanks to TatlTails for noticing it.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read this week's chapter and thanks for everyone's support. Make sure you come back next week to see what happens next in this epic tale! Bye for now!**

**P.S. Woohoo! We've reached 60 chapters! What an amazing feat this story has reached. Only 40 more chapters left until the big finale. Although, it's too early to talk about that right now. ;)**

**-Azurixx**

**_~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters or material They belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively~_**


	61. Infiltration!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 61: Infiltration!_**

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails' House**_

"Today I don't feel like doing anything...I just wanna lay on this couch." Yoshi lazily sang as he laid on the couch.

It was early morning by the time Yoshi woke up. The night before, after he helped Mario and Sonic rescue Blaze, he had been watching a marathon of cooking shows. He had no idea how to cook, and only tuned in to gaze at the delicious cuisines he dreamt of eating.

"Boy, I'm starving!" Yoshi exclaimed as he rubbed his belly. He quickly stretched and headed his way to Tails' kitchen, wondering what he could eat for breakfast.

"Aww man! You gotta cook most of these foods! I don't know how to cook!" Yoshi grumbled to himself as he inspected the refrigerator's inventory. There were eggs, bacon, sausages, the usual breakfast foods you'd have to cook. This wouldn't have been a problem for Yoshi...if he knew how to cook.

Yoshi sighed. He closed the refrigerator and looked into the kitchen cupboards. He found a box of "Golden Rings" cereal, but it was almost empty. Even if it was full, it wouldn't be enough to fill Yoshi's seemingly bottomless belly.

Taking his bowl of cereal, Yoshi walked back into the living room and turned on the television.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this important news bulletin."

"Another news broadcast? I've seen enough of these already." Yoshi said. He was about to switch channels when something the news broadcaster said caught his attention.

"Military government G.U.N would like to inform residence that they have captured a large ape-like creature in the vast jungles of Adabat. The agents are unsure of where it has come. They are aware that the creature is highly dangerous, as it had run rampant trying to avoid capture. In order to protect the public, the creature has been put into strong captivity in one of their bases."

The television soon showed a video clip of the ape creature being carried into a G.U.N helicopter near a temple ruin in Adabat. Yoshi's eyes widened both delight and shock.

"That's Donkey Kong! They found Donkey Kong! He's safe!." Yoshi was about to jump in joy when he remembered his ape friend would be held captive for military research. "Wait a minute...Donkey Kong's in trouble! I have to tell the others!"

Yoshi quickly ran into Tails' bedroom. Mario and Sonic were the only ones found sleeping inside. They slept in separate mattresses on the floor. Tails and Knuckles were most likely still continuing to build their new aircraft for the heroes. Yoshi grabbed a pillow and smacked both of them, yelling them to wake up.

"Mamammia! What do you want Yoshi!" Mario shouted as he slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"I saw something on TV!" Yoshi told them as he hopped up and down in urgency.

"If it has something to do with food, then I'm not interested." Sonic said, rolling back into his sleeping position.

"As much as I wish it was about food, it isn't! It's about Donkey Kong!" Yoshi explained to them. The word "Donkey Kong" instantly got Mario and Sonic's attention. The dinosaur took the time to explain what he saw on the news report.

"Gee, these news reports really do bring us something convenient to us every time." Sonic said. He stood up from his sleeping mattress and began stretching.

"I can't believe that Donkey Kong is okay!" Mario exclaimed in full joy. Well, he was feeling the most joy knowing where his friend was. But knowing he stuck in military captivity didn't bring any joy at all.

"We better let Tails know about this." Sonic told the two. "He'll know what to do." The trio rushed down to the Tornado Launch Tunnel, where Tails and Knuckles were working on their new aircraft.

At the moment, there was a large machine covered under a blanket, which took up almost half the tunnel's space. Tails and Knuckles climbed out of the blanket when they heard their friends running downstairs.

"Hey, what are you guys doing down here?" Knuckles asked them. He had a wrench in his hand and he was covered in engine oil. "We old you we'd call you guys down here when we were done. This new aircraft is supposed to be a surprise!"

"We have a much bigger surprise right now." Yoshi began. He explained to Tails and Knuckles about Donkey Kong's predicament. The two were pretty surprised at the news.

"Well, atleast we know he's okay." Tails said. He shook his head in disappointment. "Although, being found by G.U.N and thrown into captivity isn't the best place to be in right now."

"So do you have a plan to get him out of there?" Mario asked. Tails nodded, but he was a bit reluctant to go through with it.

"You see, G.U.N isn't the most cooperative people we've dealt with in the past." Tails began explaining. Sonic nodded, agreeing with his statement. "I doubt I could just ring them up right now and explain the whole misunderstanding involving Donkey Kong."

"What are you implying?" Knuckles asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think the only option we have in rescuing Donkey Kong is to break into G.U.N's base and get him out ourselves."

"That's a bit unlike you Tails, to think of a dangerous plan like that!" Knuckles said, giving him a grin. "But I like it! I can't wait until we bash through G.U.N's base!"

"Who said we were going?" Tails told him. At first, Knuckles was confused. "When I meant we, I meant Mario and Sonic. You and me on the other hand still have to finish with our new aircraft."

"Wha- But- UGH! That's so unfair!" Kncukles growled in frustration, throwing his wrench onto the floor.

"Don't worry Knuckles. I'm sure you'll have your time to shine some other time," Sonic said, patting the echidna on the back. "So how do you expect us to break into G.U.N's base by ourselves Tails?"

"That's where my Tornado-3 comes in!" Tails pointed to his spare biplane, which was located beside their covered new aircraft. "My plan is that Mario will fly both of you down to the base. Sonic will speed through the base and rescue Donkey Kong. Then Mario will wait to fly you guys out."

"...you lost me there when you said that I will fly the plane." Mario spoke out. "I'm-a have no idea how to fly a plane! Why me?"

"Because I believe you can," Tails encouraged the plumber. "You believed in me when I took in the power of the Fire Flower back in your world. I know you can handle this Mario."

"Yeah, and Tails is a pretty good teacher too." Sonic assured Mario. "He'll easily teach you the functions of the Tornado-3 and you'll learn them as fast as I can run!"

Mario was a little hesitant. But the thought of flying a plane was kind of exciting to him. He nodded to the heroes and agreed to fly the Tornado-3. After all, Donkey Kong's well-being was on the line, and it was up to the heroes to rescue him.

Tails prepared Mario and Sonic for their rescue mission. He taught Mario the various functions the Tornado-3 had and how to fly the plane. Tails also supplied them each with their own radios in order to communicate with each other.

"Hey, I just noticed that I have no role in this plan." Yoshi said to Knuckles. "Should I consider myself lucky?"

"...no." Knuckles simply replied and quickly resumed building their new aircraft. Yoshi shrugged and went back upstairs to watch more of the food channel.

* * *

_**Inside the G.U.N base, Research Laboratory**_

Somewhere inside the base, was a large research laboratory. There were many control panels and screens located in the room. Many researchers were busy in the room. Their focus was all on the ape creature, trapped in the indestructible glass tube in the middle of the room.

"This ape is crazy!" one of the researchers said to his comrades. "See how he continues banging on the glass?"

"His power levels are off the charts!" another one of the researchers said. He read a reading off his computer screen. "Our tests show his strength could well over be 9000!"

"That's...really strong actually." another researcher spoke out.

"We should be lucky that our agents caught this rampaging ape." the researchers spoke.

Donkey Kong continued to scream in the plastic tube and banged on the side with his fists. His voice couldn't be heard from the outside. But no words from him were needed to describe how angry he was.

Outside of the research laboratory, was Shadow and Rouge. They watched through a large glass window that peeked into the laboratory.

"I have to say, that ape was a handful back in Adabat." Rouge said.

"Hmph! That was nothing." Shadow said otherwise. "The only hard part was to get the crazy ape to calm down. Everything else was a breeze."

"Bragging again, I see." Rouge teased Shadow. "I don't see why I expect you to not brag."

"I am the ultimate lifeform after all." Shadow reminded her. "I deserve to do whatever I please to do. Even brag about the smallest of things."

"Smallest of things?" Rouge repeated him. "You're saying that catching that ape was nothing too big for you?"

"In regards of importance, yes. It wasn't a big deal to me." Shadow explained. "For me, it's the equivalent of, say, doing a chore in a household."

"It'd be surprising to think this ape was a part of something much bigger. You know, like, something to do with the fate of the world." Rouge thought. Out of the blue, Shadow gave a small chuckle.

"You're joking, right? I doubt this ape is important to anyone at all. It's just another dumb creature that's taken up space in our universe."

"Well, I wouldn't categorize that ape as dumb." Rouge tried to correct Shadow. "I mean, do you remember it talked to us once when we tried to capture it?"

"Anyone who has a brain can talk." Shadow explained. "When I meant dumb, I didn't mean it intelligence wise. I meant it more of an importance to the world. I think, and know, this dumb ape isn't worth anyone's time."

"I'm guessing that's why you weren't really into catching the ape in the first place." Rouge said. "I kind of agree with you on that. Sure, this ape may have come out of no where, but it didn't seem to be bothering anyone when we found it. Even I'm a bit confused to why the government wants to do research on it. It wasn't " Shadow nodded to her. Suddenly, he began walking away through the hallway.

"Where you off to?" Rouge called to him.

"I'm going to patrol around the island for a bit." Shadow answered him. In reality, he was bored out of his mind watching the researchers do tests on the ape. It seemed like a waste of his time.

_I need something better to do. Something that's actually worth my time._

* * *

**_Above the skies of Neo Prison Island_**

Somewhere, hidden out in the ocean, was a large island covered in lush forests. It was the new base of G.U.N. When their old Prison Island was blown up by Dr. Eggman, the government loaned them the funds to create a new base on a separate island. It was named Neo Prison Island.

The island was heavily guarded. Around the coasts were various harbors that housed the military machines of G.U.N. Inside the island itself was the large base, which was holding Donkey Kong at the time.

Mario and Sonic were flying their way towards Neo Prison Island. Mario took the wheel of the plane, while Sonic stood on top of the wing. For someone who learned how to fly a plane in half an hour, Mario was doing pretty well.

"So this is where Donkey Kong is being held?" Mario asked Sonic as he looked down below the island. Sonic nodded to him.

"He's being held somewhere down there." Sonic told him. "Who knows what they're doing to him. I'm sure whatever it is, it's far from a beauty spa treatment."

"You remember the plan, right?" Mario asked. Sonic gave him a thumbs-up. The plumber propped up his radio device. "Don't hesitate to call for help. I'm-a here when you need me."

The Tornado-3 soon flew above the harbors of Neo Prison Island. Sonic turned back to Mario. The plumber nodded to him. Taking a deep breath, Sonic jumped off the Tornado-3 and dived onto the harbor below.

His landing did not go unnoticed. Already, G.U.N Beetles and G.U.N Hunters were already flying out of the guard towers of the harbor and towards Sonic.

"What a warm welcome I'm being given right now!" Sonic exclaimed at the sight of the G.U.N robots. The words of Tails echoed in his mind.

_If you don't want to get in trouble with the government, then you can't destroy their robots._

"As much I want to, I'm gonna have to restrain myself." Sonic said to himself. He quickly did a fee leg stretches and ran towards the army of G.U.N robots.

The G.U.N Beetles shot their guns at Sonic, but the hedgehog quickly dodged them with ease. He swerved past the bullets and jumped on one of the beetles. The other beetles shot their bullets, but Sonic jumped off, causing that one beetle to be destroyed.

Sonic ran past the G.U.N Hunters, who tried to shoot at the hedgheog, butmof course, he was too fast for them. The shots missed, causing some bullets to hit other G.U.N robots.

Sonic hopped from one pier platform to the other. Suddenly, he heard the noise of jet planes in the air. He looked up, seeing the jets fly in his direction.

"Nice! Now things are getting interesting!" Sonic sped up his running speed, comtinuing to dodge the G.U.N robots. Their bullets continued to be shot at other robots, destroying those as well.

As Sonic was closing in on the coast, a large army of G.U.N robots appeared in front of Sonic, all aiming their guns at him. At the same time, a jet was chasing behind him. It opened it's missile launchers, preparing to shoot at him.

"Too easy!" Sonic exclaimed. Suddenly, right when the robots and jet began shooting, Sonic charged up a spin-dash and used it's power to jump over and past the army of G.U.N robots. The bullets from the robots missed and instead, was shot at the jet. The same thing happened with the jet, with it's missiles destroying the army of robots.

"Killed two birds with one stone." Sonic said, patting himself on the back. The hedgehog had just made it to the coast of the island. He looked back, seeing the damage and wreckage on the harbor. Sonic simply shrugged and began to head his way into the jungle of the island.

_Tails said I couldn't destroy the robots. He didn't say they couldn't destroy each other._

* * *

**_Inside the G.U.N base, Hallways_**

"RED ALERT! RED ALERT! ISLAND UNDER ATTACK! ISLAND UNDER ATTACK!" shouted a robotic voice.

In the hallways, G.U.N agents were rushing to their defense positions. A loud emergency alarm was wailing through the hallways. The hallways were flashing in red lights.

In the midst of the action, Rouge was wondering what was going on. She quickly grabbed a G.U.N agent to the side and asked what was going on.

"Do you not hear what's going on!" the G.U.N agent shouted at her. "The whole island is under attack!"

"I can see that." Rouge said, pointing to the emergency lights that flashed in the hallway. "But what exactly is happening? Who's attacking? And why?"

"We're not sure why they are attacking," the G.U.N agent explained. " but we do know who is attacking. It's Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Rouge let out a surprised expression. "Sonic the Hedgehog? Didn't he disappear in Empire City awhile back?"

"Yea, but now he's back! And he's attacking the island! Now let go of me!"

Rouge let go of the G.U.N agent. She was still surprised to know that Sonic was back and was now attacking the island. "I have to tell Shadow about this!"

Outside the G.U.N base, was Shadow. He was standing on the roof of the base with his arms crossed, watching the G.U.N agents rushing out to their positions on the island.

"Hmph! What's so important that they need to protect the base?" Shadow said to himself. "I bet they're overreacting."

Suddenly, he saw Rouge running out of the base. She looked up and noticed Shadow. Using her wings, she flew up beside him. "What are you just standing here for. Do you know what's happening?"

"Don't tell me you're also caught up in this ruckus." Shadow said to her in an annoyed voice. He rolled his eyes, not in the mood to hear what she had to say at the moment.

"I'm assuming no one has told you yet," Rouge began. "Sonic is attacking the island."

Shadow's ears perked up when he heard his rival's name. Sonic was here? And why was he attacking the island? How did he suddenly appear out of no where? Shadow asked these questions n his mind.

"Did you say...Sonic?" Shadow asked Rouge. The bat nodded to him.

At first, Shadow was in disbelief. He couldn't believe Sonic returned. The world thought he had disappeared from the face of the planet back in Empire City. But now he's returned? The thought of it surprised Shadow, it even made him...happy.

_Sonic the Hedgehog is back!_

Suddenly, Shadow took out his Chaos Emerald. Keeping it tightly in his grasp, he jumped off the roof of G.U.N's base and rushed his way through the woods. He was determined to face Sonic once again.

"Shadow!" Rouge shouted to him, holding out her hand to him. She realized he was too far for him to hear her. But she knew even if he could, he would not stop to finally reunite with his one true rival. His one true match.

The only one who was worth his time.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_Mario and Sonic have begun their infiltration at the G.U.N base to rescue Donkey Kong! Will they succeed? And Shadow seems eager to meet up with Sonic. What will happen next? Stay tuned!_**

* * *

**A/N: This chapter is an obvious homage to the story of Sonic Adventure 2, more specifically the location of where the action takes place. I decided to use Neo Prison Island as a location because people are more familiar with the old Prison Island. At first I wanted to use a desert-like area, but I'm saving that idea for later.**

**Things will get much more epic next chapter. I don't want to spoil anything, but Mario will find a way to help Sonic with the Tornado-3. There's a reason why I chose the Tornado-3. Remember it's ability to turn into a walking machine in SA2? ;)**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this week's chapter. Thanks for reading and for supporting me all this time! Don't be shy to leave a review! Your comments are one of the few incentives that drive me to continue this story. Bye for now!**

**P.S. I just noticed this story alone has conjured up over 50,000 views at this point. That's pretty amazing, for a fanfiction story. I couldn't have achieved this triumphant feat without you guys. Thanks again!**

**-Azurixx**

**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega~**


	62. Ape Escape!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 62: Ape Escape!**_

* * *

_**Neo Prison Island, within the forest**_

Sonic was speeding through the forest at a furious pace. He ran through bushes, jumped against tree trunks and swung on vines. He had to find the location of the G.U.N base that held Donkey Kong captive. It was somewhere in the middle of the forest, but where exactly?

"This base is hidden really well." Sonic said to himself as he continued running. The forest was massive in size, and the many trees blocked the distant view. How was Sonic supposed to find a single army base in a sprawling area like this?

Suddenly, Sonic heard a noise come from behind him. He looked back to see two G.U.N Beetle robots flying towards him. They both aimed their guns towards Sonic and shot at him. Fortunately, Sonic was quick and dodged the attacks. He flipped in the air and did a Homing Attack on the two robots, wiping them out with ease.

The hedgehog didn't have the time to stop and check his surroundings. At the same time, he was being chased by G.U.N's many robot fighters. They were determined to find Sonic and eradicate him for breaking onto the island.

A buzzing noise suddenly emitted. It was coming from Sonic's radio. He answered it. "Yo, what's up Mario?"

"I'm-a checking to see how you're doing right now." Mario spoke from the other end. Right now, Mario was circling above the island in Tails' Tornado-3. "The last time I saw, you were at the harbor and destroyed all of the defense robots there. Good job by the way!"

"Thanks," Sonic answered. "It was nothing too difficult. I'd say Eggman's robots put up more of a challenge than G.U.N's!"

"Haha! I'm-a take your word on that," Mario chuckled. He looked back down on the island, seeing the G.U.N base sticking out like a dot in the middle of the vast forest. "The base is right in the middle of the island. Be careful though, I just saw a swarm of G.U.N agents run out. They're looking for you."

"I can handle a bunch of agents." Sonic assured the plumber. "The only problem I have is finding the base. I'm having a hard time scouting it through these trees and bushes."

"...Maybe we should have dropped you right above the base, instead of at the coast of the island." Mario told him. Sonic shook his head, feeling stupid that they didn't follow that plan instead. "Anyway, if you need me, I'll be right here, waiting for your call."

"I will." Sonic said, shutting off his radio. He suddenly quickened his pace through the forest. Wherever he was, it was either getting him closer to the G.U.N base, or farther away. How was he supposed to know? He didn't have a map with him. The best thing he could do was push forward.

Out of no where, a yellow bolt of energy was shot at Sonic. It missed him by a few inches, but the blast caught Sonic off guard, causing him to trip and tumble forward, landing against a tree trunk. He groaned in pain and quickly got up.

"What was that all about?" Sonic grumbled to himself. He looked around him, seeing no one else nearby. Suddenly, another bolt of yellow energy shot at him. Sonic jumped out of it's way. He looked up to where the attack was launched. Up in the trees, hidden behind the branches, was a figure hiding.

"Hey! Don't be a wuss and show yourself!" Sonic shouted. The figure jumped down from it's location and landed a few feet away from Sonic. He was surprised to see who the figure was. "Whoa! Well if it isn't Shadow! Long time no see pal!" He grinned and waved at the hedgehog. Shadow simply gave him an emotionless stare.

"Seems like even after your disappearance, you're still the cocky, annoying guy I remember." Shadow said, crossing his arms. Deep down, he was pleasant to see his rival once again.

"Glad to see you missed me." Sonic said, walking up to Shadow. "Sorry if I left unexpectedly. It's not like I had a choice."

"I'm not interested in what happened to you," Shadow spoke. "I'm here to ask what you're doing breaking into G.U.N's island and destroying all of their defense forces for no apparent reason."

"Look, all I'm doing is trying to save a friend of mine," Sonic began explaining to Shadow.

"Wait...you're saying that crazy ape is your friend?" Shadow asked, giving him a confused look. "Since when was this?"

"Oh, no big deal." Sonic said. "It only happened after I disappeared. You know what happened, right? A huge portal sucked me in and on the other side was a whole new world totally different than ours! It was awesome!" Shadow could only look at Sonic with a dumbfounded expression.

"...have you gone crazy as well?" Shadow asked him, slowly backing away from Sonic. The hedgehog shook his head. assuring he wasn't going crazy. Shadow was now suddenly interested in Sonic's story. "So, there really is more to that gorilla than I thought. All I assumed was it being another pathetic creature."

Sonic wasn't Shadow's favourite guy to be around with, but he knew that Sonic had good reasons for doing whatever he did. "I don't know why you're attacking G.U.N.'s base, or why that gorilla is so important to you right now. But if I want to know the full truth, I have no choice but to help you."

Suddenly, a whole army of G.U.N Hunters popped out from behind the trees and surrounded the hedgehogs. They pointed their guns towards Sonic and began to charge their lasers. Sonic and Shadow had their backs against one another.

"Listen Shadow! I'll explain my story later. Right now, we need to save my friend from G.U.N!"

"...fine. I'll do what you say, but only because I want to know what happened when you disappeared." Shadow reluctantly agreed. He and Sonic clapped hands and began attacking the army of G.U.N Hunters. The robots quickly fired their lasers, but they weren't fast enough to hit the hedgehogs. The two destroyed the army of robots with their barrage of Homing Attacks.

"You're story better be worth getting in trouble by the government." Shadow warned Sonic. "There's no chance we'll get off clean after destroying half of G.U.N's robots."

"Eh, either way, they can just make more." Sonic joked. He looked around the forest. "Mind if you lead me to their base now?" Shadow nodded and motioned Sonic to follow. The two hedgehogs sped through the forest, heading towards the G.U.N base. It wasn't long until a loud thud was heard behind them. The two looked back to see a huge mechanical walker sporting a machine gun and missile launchers. It was G.U.N's Bigfoot machine.

"Hey! I remember that robot!" Sonic exclaimed. "Man, do I miss the good old days."

Suddenly, Bigfoot shot out it's missiles at both hedgehogs. The missiles missed the hedgehogs, instead creating a large explosion behind them, destroying parts of the trees and bushes caught in the deadly explosion.

"Watch out. They've upgraded their Bigfoots with a laser blaster." Shadow warned Sonic, pointing to the new laser gun installed at the tip of the front. As if on cue, the Bigfoot began to hover in the air and shot down a powerful purple laser down towards the ground and headed towards Sonic and Shadow.

"Pssh! That laser's too slow to catch up to us!" Sonic teased. He ran towards Bigfoot and jumped high into the air. He shot himself at the cockpit with a Homing Attack, damaging the Bigfoot. The robot stopped firing it's laser and shot it's plasma cannonc at Sonic, surprisingly hitting the hedgehog. Sonic landed on the ground with a loud thud.

"Whoa! That hurt." Sonic held onto his chest. "This robot may be tougher than I thought."

"Let me handle this." Shadow said. He skated towards the Bigfoot and jumped into the air. He charged a yellow ball of chaos energy in his hand and shot a powerful bolt towards the Bigfoot cockpit. "Chaos Spear!"

The attack hit Bigfoot, damaging the robot further. It still wasn't enough to take down the robot. Suddenly, a blue energy field of electricity surrounded the robot. No physical attacks could harm the robot anymore.

"Hey! I don't remember this part!" Sonic shouted in surprised. He didn't like the looks of the electric shield. There was no way he was going to land a hit on the robot without painful shocking himself.

"Hmph! They think they can stop us with a shield? Pathetic!" Shadow growled. He began to charge up another ball of energy in his hand, only this time, the ball was bigger and it gave off a purple light. He shot the much more powerful Chaos Spear at Bigfoot. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to do any damage, which surprised Shadow. "What is this nonsense? How did it survive my attack? It should have destroyed the robot by now!"

"Man, this guy may take awhile to take care of." Sonic shouted. The two had no idea how to damage the Bigfoot. They seemed hopeless, and they had the urge to run away. Luckily, Sonic came up with a plan. "I have no choice but to call Mario for help." At first, he was going to call Mario to help them defeat Bigfoot, but how could the plumber come if he didn't know where they were on the island? Suddenly, Sonic came up with another plan.

"Mario! I need you to go and break into G.U.N's base yourself. My hands are tied right now, so it's all up to you."

"Huh? What are you talking about? I can't break into the base myself! That's-a too dangerous for me!" Mario complained. Sonic reminded him of one of the functions Tails taught him about the Tornado-3: the Cyclone Walker. It had more than enough firepower to destroy a full army of robots. It was all Mario needed to help rescue Donkey Kong.

"His fate is all in your hands Mario." Sonic told the plumber. At first, Mario hesitated, but he agreed to break into G.U.N's base himself. Sonic hung up the radio and quickly turned to Shadow. "Come on, I've got someone else handling my ape friend. We have all the time for ourselves to take care of this Bigfoot."

Shadow nodded. He wasn't sure what Sonic was talking about, but all they could do now was destroy Bigfoot. The robot was now walking towards them. Nodding to each other, Sonic and Shadow charged at Bigfoot, ready to attack.

* * *

_**Above the skies of Neo Prison Island**_

"Mamamia! What kind of chaos has Sonic gotten himself now?" Mario pondered to himself. Sonic couldn't rescue Donkey Kong anymore for some reason, so he threw the job onto Mario. The plumber was reluctant. It was his first day controlling the Tornado-3, and already he had to use the advance features on it.

"I'm-a hope I can do this." Mario said to himself. He looked down below the island and focused his eyes on the G.U.N base. He held his breath and slammed a button on the control panel of the Tornado-3.

The monoplane suddenly began changing shape. It sprouted a lock-on Laser Blaster from behind the seat. It's wings shifted into walker legs that had the ability to hover with it's Boosters. The monoplane still retained it's Bazooka Cannon at the front.

The Tornado-3 had transformed into the Cyclone Walker!

"AAAAHHHHH!" Mario screamed as the Cyclone began falling towards the island. Since it's wings were gone, it lost the ability to fly. Mario desperately looked over at the control panel and found the button he wanted. Slamming onto it, the legs of the Cyclone crouched and started up it's Boosters, allowing Mario to slowly descend. The Cyclone landed in front of the G.U.N. base. At the moment, all the agents had been deployed around the island to find Sonic, leaving some of the robots to defend the base.

"Donkey Kong is somewhere inside." Mario said to himself. He stared at the base, overwhelmed by it's huge size. He quickly turned his hesitation into determination. Holding tightly onto the joystick of the Cyclone, he aimed at the front doors of the base. "Let's-a go!"

Mario controlled the Cyclone's Bazooka Cannon to shoot down the base. With a few shots, the door was broken down. Mario walked the Cyclone inside the base as the sirens began to wail outside. A robotic voice began shouting aloud yelling: "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"

As the Cyclone walked through the hallways, a group of G.U.N Beetles appeared out of nowhere and aimed at the walker. Mario quickly activated the lock-on mechanism and aimed at the robots. He turned on the Laser Blaster and shot a barrage of lasers at the beetles, quickly destroying them.

"Wow! That was kinda cool." Mario exclaimed. Now filled with courage, he piloted the Cyclone deeper into G.U.N's base, destroying everything in his path with the Laser Blaster. Mario felt invincible. With the touch of a button, he could blast away the robots with ease.

"I'm-a going to rescue Donkey Kong in no time at all!" Mario exclaimed in enthusiasm. As he rushed the Cyclone through the hallways, large metal doors suddenly popped out in front of him to hinder his progress. This was no problem for Mario, as the Cyclone's Bazooka Cannon easily shot down the doors. Mario continued infiltrating the G.U.N base until he came across a large, empty steel room.

"Where do I go next?" Mario said to himself. The only exit in the room was the hallway he had come out of. Suddenly, the floor under him began to split in two. Quickly reacting, Mario used the Cyclone's Booster to float back onto one of the sliding floors. Out from the floor jumped out two large G.U.N Battle Robots. Each were armed with their own Bazookas.

"Uh-oh, this could be a problem." Mario gasped. This was a two-against-one. The plumber felt like it was unfair, but hey, life was unfair, right?

The two Battle Robots aimed their Bazookas at Mario and launched a rocket at him. Mario steered the Cyclone out of the way, dodging the large explosion the missiles made. Mario counter-attacked by shooting at one of the robots with the Cyclone's Bazooka Cannon. Surprisingly, the shots weren't working, and only seemed to deflect off the Battle Robot.

"Hey! Whatever you're doing, you're cheating!" Mario yelled in frustration. Deciding to take a different approach, Mario used the Cyclone's Laser Blaster to try and damage the robots. The lasers blasts hit both robots spot-on, yet it didn't appear to do any damage. Mario scratched his head in confusion. "Why won't these guys take any damage? Are the Cyclone's attacks not strong enough?"

One of the Battle Robots took the opportunity to shoot it's Bazooka at Mario. The missile hit the front of the Cyclone, greatly damaging the mechanical walker and destroying it's Bazooka Cannon.

"Aww man! Tails is not going to be happy when he sees this!" Mario gasped. "That Bazooka missile was really strong. Hmm...I wonder." Mario had just come up with an idea. Swiftly, he piloted the Cyclone between the two Battle Robots and whistled at them, getting their attention. "Hey! Look at me! I'm wide open for an attack!"

The two Battle Robots aimed their Bazookas at Mario and shot out their missiles. At the last second, Mario used the Cyclone's Boosters to jump high into the air, dodging the two missiles. The missiles head towards each other, but narrowly missed, and instead, hit the opposing Battle Robots, destroying them in the process.

"Yahoo! I did it!" Mario cheered for himself. He patted himself on the back, happy he defeated the robots, even at an unfair disadvantage. While he was celebrating, a group of G.U.N Hunters ran into the room, surrounding Mario. The group of robots were lead by a mysterious bat character Mario had never seen before.

"You! What's your problem?" Rouge shouted at Mario. She was flying in the air, looking at Mario at eye level. "Do you know how much damage you've caused because of your crazy behaviour?" Rouge was

"I don't think it's crazy," Mario explained to her. "I'd think of it more as a heroic."

Rouge was confused at first, and was further going to berate at Mario when she recognized the machine he was piloting. "Hey, wait a minute. This looks like the machine Tails once used before. How in the world did you get this?"

"I stole it." Mario joked.

"Ahah! So you really are the bad guy. " Rouge assumed. Mario rolled his eyes, surprised she didn't get his sarcastic remark. "It's not that I hate the bad boy type, but you just don't have the looks that appeal to me."

"Hey! Are you saying I'm-a ugly?"

"Well, I _guess _if _you _say it, I suppose so."

Infuriated, Mario aimed the Laser Blaster towards the whole army of robots surrounding him and shot a barrage of lasers around viciously, destroying each and every robot in sight. Rouge had to take cover by flying towards the roof of the room, avoiding the laser blasts range. Mario then piloted the Cyclone out of the room, resuming his search to find Donkey Kong.

"Geez, someone seems to be sensitive about their looks." Rouge groaned, flying back to the ground. "Can't blame me for having such a repulsive look. The best thing about him was his moustache."

Mario began fighting his way through the upper levels of the G.U.N base. Without his Bazooka Cannon, Mario had to rely on the Cyclone's Laser Blasters. Even without the weapon, Mario had no problem destroying the robots that came in his way. After fighting through hordes and hordes of G.U.N robots, Mario came across a large window that peered into a room.

"What seems to be in here." Mario wondered. He made the Cyclone crouch so he could peer inside the room. It was the laboratory room, which held many control panels and computers screens around the walls. The room was empty, probably because everyone had to evacuate the building from Mario's sudden attack. In the middle of the room, was a large glass tube. Inside it, was a sleeping gorilla. Mario instantly recognized his friend.

"Donkey Kong!" Mario shouted. Taking action, Mario used the Laser Blaster to destroyed the laboratory's window. He climbed the Cyclone inside and walked towards the glass tube. Mario jumped out of the Cyclone and knocked onto the tube. Donkey Kong slowly woke up and was relieved to see his friend.

"Mario!" Donkey Kong exclaimed in joy. Unfortunately, Mario couldn't hear what Donkey Kong said, since the glass was soundproof from the outside. Luckily, Mario didn't need to hear what Donkey Kong said to know how happy he was to see him.

"Don't worry, I'm-a get you out of here." Mario said to him. Climbing back into the Cyclone, Mario used the Laser Blaster to destroy the glass tube. The lasers easily shattered the glass. Donkey Kong climbed out and began pounding his chest, roaring in triumph for his freedom.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Donkey Kong said. He went up to Mario and gave him a big gorilla hug, squeezing Mario in the process. "Thanks for saving me."

"Anytime, my friend." Mario said. He climbed back into the Cyclone. "Come on, I'll explain what's been happening once we get out of here."

"Are our friends alright?" Donkey Kong quickly asked. Mario nodded to the ape and began walking out of the laboratory. Donkey Kong cracked his knuckles. Free from his glass imprisonment, he was ready to pound a bunch of robots into scrap metal. "It's time to show these guys what I'm made of!"

* * *

**_Neo Prison Island, within the forest_**

Sonic and Shadow were vigorously fighting against G.U.N's Bigfoot. But whatever attacks they threw against the robot, it seemed to backfire against them due to the robot's electricity shield. The two hedgehogs felt hopeless. Even Shadow felt overpowered.

"GAH! Pathetic robot! Hiding within a shield of electricity! Such as coward!" Shadow growled in anger. None of his chaos attacks could pierce though the electric shield. Shadow took out his Chaos Emerald and began to ponder what attacks he could use against Bigfoot.

Sonic had dodged another one of Bigfoot's missiles when he saw Shadow holding a Chaos Emerald. Suddenly, he came up with a plan. "Shadow! Throw me the Chaos Emerald!"

"Why? You don't know how to fully use the power of the Chaos Emerald. What good would that do?" Shadow asked. Sonic told him he had no time to explain. Doubtful of Sonic's potential to win, Shadow threw the Chaos Emerald to him.

"Let's see if this works." Sonic said to himself. He concentrated all his energy into a familiar power-up he once possessed. The Chaos Emerald began to glow. A sudden burst of energy blew up inside Sonic. His body began to glow in rainbow-like glow. His whole body began to sparkle in bright light.

Sonic was now Rainbow Sonic!

"What the-I've never seen this sort of power before!" Shadow said, surprised. He had no idea what kind of power Sonic had suddenly released from the Chaos Emerald.

"It's time to finish this." Sonic said. Staring at Bigfoot, Sonic prepared a Rainbow Spin-Dash. Sparkles began to shroud around him. Sonic quickly shot himself towards the Bigfoot, with a rainbow apparition appearing behind him. His Rainbow Spin-Dash pierced through the Bigfoot's electricity shield and through the Bigfoot robot itself. It created a hole through the interior, destroying Bigfoot. The robot stood there for a minute and fell to the ground, creating a loud thud.

"That was...amazing." Shadow said, still surprised. He looked back to Sonic, who was standing on a boulder. He powered down from his Rainbow transformation. "Sonic...how were you able to possess that kind of power?"

"I kind of learned it when I disappeared into the 'other' world." Sonic explained to him. Shadow was slowly beginning to understand Sonic's situation. He must've had a good reason to break into G.U.N's island to rescue the gorilla he and Rouge captured. It must have had some sort of importance, but Shadow still did not know fully what was going on.

"Come on, you still need to explain to me what happened to you." Shadow reminded him. "But only after I help you." Shadow motioned Sonic to follow him to G.U.N' base. After speeding through the forest, they finally reached the entrance. At the same time, Mario and Donkey Kong had just broken out.

"Take this!" Donkey Kong shouted as he jumped out of the base, smashing a G.U.N Beetle into the ground at the same time. He roared in victory. Mario walked the Cyclone out of the base. He quickly noticed Sonic outside of the base.

"Sonic! Hey! You made it!" Mario greeted him.

"It seems like you already have things take care of." Sonic said. He walked up to Donkey Kong, who was surprised to see Sonic.

"Hey buddy! I can't believe it's you!" Donkey Kong exclaimed, giving the hedgehog another one of his gorilla hugs. Sonic could only grin to see his friend again. Donkey Kong put the hedgehog down and quickly noticed Shadow watching them. He growled at him. "What's he doing here!"

"Don't worry, he's okay." Sonic assured him.

"Who's he?" Mario asked. Donkey Kong explained to him he was one of the people that captured him and took him to the government. He also explained a bat person was aiding him. Mario remembered the bat person he encountered in the base. "So those were the ones that captured you. Why would they do that?"

"Look, everyone makes mistakes," Sonic tried to reason with them. He looked back to Shadow, who reluctantly nodded his head. "I'm sure if they knew who you guys really were, they wouldn't have captured you in the first place."

Donkey Kong walked up to Shadow and stared at him, still unsure of him. "Are you sorry for what you did?"

"...sure." Shadow said, trying to feel sorry. "...I'm...I'm sorry for what I did to you. I was...stupid?"

"Okay! I accept your apology!" Donkey Kong exclaimed. He grinned and gave Shadow a gorilla hug. Unlike the others, Shadow wasn't all into getting hugged by a gorilla. He thought it was 'too weird'. But nonetheless, he had no control of what Donkey Kong could do, so he allowed the hug. Even though he hated it.

Everything seemed to be well, when suddenly, another whole army of G.U.N robots appeared to surround the heroes. This time, the whole army was much bigger than what the heroes encountered earlier. There were even two Bigfoots there.

"Halt! All of you are surrounded and must surrender!" One of the agents in the Bigfoot shouted through an intercom. The heroes were determined to not get captured and were about to attack when Rouge ran out of the base.

"How in the world did this all happen?" Rouge yelled. She was surprised to see a whole bunch of robots surrounding the heroes all of a sudden. She noticed Shadow as among the heroes. "You too Shadow! What's gotten into you! Someone has some explaining to do."

"If you allow us, let me explain what's been going on." Sonic told her. "Call off all these mercenaries and find us a private place to chat. You'll understand."

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes have saved Donkey Kong! But they still need to escape from Neo Prison Island. Will they be able to talk their way out of this one? Stay tuned for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**A/N: I apologize if this chapter seems a little long. I was so into writing the plot that I didn't notice I exceeded my usual 4,000 word limit I put on to myself. Nevertheless, I think this chapter turned out pretty epic. There's action, there' surprising twists, all that kind of stuff you usually see in my story.**_  
_

**I thought it was a cool idea to let Mario use the Cyclone to break into G.U.N's base to save Donkey Kong. You usually see Tails doing that kind of stuff with machines, but allowing someone to do that kind of think who isn't familiar in that territory seemed more interesting for me to write.**

**This chapter was supposed to end with the heroes already leaving Neo Prison Island, but again, since I wrote too much this time, I had to bump it into next chapter. That's kind of a good thing, since I didn't really have much of a plot for the next chapter. A hint though, I'm about to reveal a huge plot device next week. That's something you should be looking forward to.**

**Thanks for reading and thanks for all your support. You guys are the best! Don't be shy to leave a review. I like reading what you guys have to say about my story. It helps motivate me in writing the next chapter. Also, if you didn't notice, I've finally took the time to update some of my stuff on my profile. It also reveals the titles for the next 7 chapters. Be warned, it may spoil you a little bit about what may happen next. Bye for now!**

**-Azurixx**

**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	63. The New Machine!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 63: The New Machine!_**

* * *

**_Neo Prison Island, inside G.U.N lobby_**

"...so that's why we came here to rescue Donkey Kong." Sonic said as he finished explaining why he and Mario had broken into Neo Prison Island.

He, along with Mario, Donkey Kong, Shadow and Rouge, were inside the main lobby of G.U.N's lobby. It had been after Mario broke Donkey Kong out of the laboratory. Sonic had finished explaining his reason on why they were on the island. He took the liberty to explain his disappearance from their world to backup his claim.

"That's a lot more detail than I was expecting," Rouge said as she thought over everything that Sonic had just said. It all made sense to her now. It explained why the Chaos Emeralds had disappeared. Why Sonic and his friends seemed to have been erased off the face of the planet. Why Mario and his friends started popping out of no where.

"So, you're saying, in the other world, you made friendly with these two guys?" Shadow said, staring at both Mario and Donkey Kong. "I guess our world is top-notch compared to their 'mushroomy' world."

"Hey! Our world is-a just different than yours!" Mario explained, taking a little offense to Shadow's comment. "There's-a nothing wrong with that."

"Keep telling that to yourself." Shadow said confidently, crossing his arms.

"Hey, no need to bash against them, Shadow," Sonic told him. "If it weren't for them, I'd still probably be stuck in their world having no clue on what to do." Shadow simply rolled his eyes at him.

"Anyway, I have no interest on what their world is about," Shadow said. "What does is what happened to the Chaos Emeralds. You're telling me that Metal Sonic was behind all this?"

"Yeah," Sonic nodded. "You see, Metal Sonic stole the Chaos Emeralds from our world, including the Master Emerald and the Jeweled Scepter, and took them to Mario's world. His friends have some sort of ability to open up a portal to this 'Negative Dimension' or something like that,using the artifacts."

"And your telling me Metal Sonic said this?" Shadow asked. Sonic shrugged, saying that the robot told all that to Mario and he was just restating it. "Hmph! I doubt these two have extraordinary powers. They look like normal, boring creatures."

"I oughta clobber you for saying that!" Donkey Kong growled at him. Shadow gave him a dirty look. The gorilla had the urge to punch Shadow out, but Mario stopped him from doing so.

"Aww, come on Shadow. Don't be so mean to them." Rouge said. She was never the one to defend others, but this problem was related to jewels. "I think we owe them a little apology for giving them an inconvenience."

"Hmph, whatever." Shadow said, tilting his head away from Mario and Donkey Kong. Rouge ended up apologizing for both of them.

"Anyway, we were wondering if you could explain to the government of this whole misunderstanding with Donkey Kong." Sonic asked Rouge.

"Fine. I guess I can try to butter them up." Rouge said. "I don't know how they'll respond when I tell them this ape is just another harmless animal that came from another world." She walked out of the base and turned on her radio device to explain the government about their situation.

"I'm assuming Metal Sonic is our biggest threat right now." Shadow said to Sonic. "You told me the doctor is gone in the other world, right? Good riddance to him."

"Great, now that you know everything, you think you can help us with finding Mario's friends then?" Sonic asked.

"Maybe. I'll keep an eye out, but it won't be anything on my top priority list." Shadow explained. "But, I will definitely look for the Chaos Emeralds. I don't want that damn robot to become any stronger than I am."

"Speaking of Chaos Emeralds, mind if we have the one you have?" Sonic asked. He pointed to Mario. "A friend of his desperately needs it. She's in a coma right now, and only the power of two Chaos Emeralds are need to wake her. We already have one and we just need yours."

"No."

"What?"

"She doesn't pertain to my interest in any way necessary." Shadow explained. "Your friend has nothing of importance to me, so I have no reason to help them. If you want another Chaos Emerald, find another one yourself. You have no idea how much trouble I went through just to get this one."

"But we really need the emerald. My friend's whole life depends on it." Mario begged.

"Sorry pal, but you're outta luck right now." Shadow told him off. He gave the plumber one last stare before exiting the base to meet Rouge. All Mario could feel at the moment was anger towards Shadow.

"What's his problem? Does he even have a heart?" Donkey Kong complained. "They guy wouldn't know what a good deed was if it'd hit in in the face."

"Shadow is just...self-contained," Sonic tried to explain to them. "He really only does favors for others if he gets something in return or seems really important to him."

Mario clenched his fists. He was disgusted by Shadow's behaviour. Not even Wario was that cruel, to not do a favor that depends on someone's life. Mario wondered if Shadow ever cared about anyone other than himself, but it wasn't in his interest either to know.

"Come on guys," Mario said as he walked out of the base. "the others are waiting for us back home. We don't want to worry them."

* * *

**_Emerald Town, Tails' House_**

"I am...so bored." Yoshi yawned to himself.

It was about night time and the dinosaur was lying down on the couch in Tails' living room. The television was turned on to the food channel, but Yoshi was not interested in watching it anymore. He watched almost more than 10 hours of food related shows that he grew bored of it.

"I wonder when we'll get to go adventuring again." Yoshi said to himself. It had been almost a full day of no adventuring for Yoshi. He longed for excitement. He wasn't going to get it by sitting on the couch all day.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. A surprised Yoshi fell off the couch and quickly got up. Wondering who it was, Yoshi rsn downstairs and opened the door. zto his delight, he was greeted by Mario, Sonic and Donkey Kong.

"Hey! You guys are back!" Yoshi exclaimed. When he saw Donkey Kong, his face lit up in happiness. "Donkey Kong! You're okay!"

"Hey dino bro! It's been awhile since I've seen you!" Donkey Kong exclaimed as well. He went up to Yoshi and gave him a big gorilla hug.

"How was it being trapped inside a government prison?" Yoshi asked. Donkey Kong explained to him how cramped it was inside the glass tubes and also how they'd never feed you anything. "That sounds terrible! Hold on, I think Tails has some extra food in the fridge. He just went grocery shopping today after he and Knuckles finished with the aircraft and bought a whole ton of food."

"Wait, Tails and Knuckles are already finished building the aircraft?" Sonic asked the dinosaur.

"Yeah, they finished about an hour ago before you guys showed up." Yoshi explained. "They doing a few small tweaks, but overall, they're done the body and engine. You should go downstairs and see it. It's really cool!"

Yoshi led them downstairs into the Launch Tunnel where the new aircraft was being held. It was still covered in the large blanket. Tails and Knuckles were putting away their tools on the wall.

"Hey! You guys are back!" Tails waved to them. "And hey, you rescued Donkey Kong as well! I knew you guys could do it!"

"Hmph, it looks like you didn't need my help after all," Knuckles said, congratulating them. "Nice going you two. Never shoulda doubted you the second you guys left."

"You doubted me and Mario?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhm...yeah..that's not important right now." Knuckles tried to assure him, giving a nervous grin. "What we should get out of this is that Donkey Kong is safe with us!"

"Boy! And am I really glad to see you guys again!" Donkey Kong exclaimed, giving the two yet another one of his gorilla hug. It seemed like the gorilla would give a hug to anyone nowadays.

"Anyway, it seems like you guys are finished building our new aircraft." Sonic said, pointing to the blanketed machine. "Mind giving us the big reveal?"

"Of course!" Tails nodded to them. He motioned Knuckles to tear off the blanket off the aircraft. "May I introduce you our bigger, powerful and faster aircraft: the Star Fighter!"

Knuckles ripped the blanket off. The others could only stare in awe at the sight of the aircraft. First off, the aircraft was a painted golden-yellow. It had a sleek design of a jet plane. The whole body of the aircraft was large, almost over 60-feet wide. There were two triangle shaped wings that stuck from the back. The rudder had two bars attaching to each wing. The thrusters were fixed under each wing. Behind the front window of the aircraft were two parts that were shaped like fox ears. The front of the aircraft had a long, sharp point.

"I've never seen anything like this before!" Mario gasped in amazement. "Mamamia! You guys did a fantastic job on the plane!"

"I told you it would look cool, am I right?" Yoshi asked the others. Donkey Kong nodded to him. The gorilla slowly walked up to the aircraft and touched the underside of it, making sure it was real.

"Hey! Don't get your hands on it!" Knuckles shouted, slapping Donkey Kong's hand away. "We worked really hard on this! I don't want you to mess up our hard work already!"

"Calm down, Knuckles." Tails told him. "I wouldn't be worried about the aircraft. It's made out of indestructible titanium after all, remember?" Knuckles nodded to him, but still warned Donkey Kong not to

"I have to say, this may be your best work yet, buddy." Sonic complimented, patting Tails on the shoulder. "So, what kind of super cool name did you give it?"

"I call it, the Star Fighter." Tails announced. "Or S-Fighter, for short." Mario asked him why he named it that. "Well you see, while we were building the aircraft, Knuckles had asked me what would power up the plane. After thinking about it, I remembered a little gift Mario and his friends gave us back in their world."

Tails went up to his workbench and took out the Power Star their friends had given them right before leaving. "The Power Star will power up the entire plane. And since it possesses great power, it should have no problem powering up all the engines of the S-Fighter."

"That's a good idea!" Mario exclaimed. He smiled. "I'm-a glad our gift to you was much more useful than expected. What does the Power Star help power up anyway?"

"Well, for starters," Tails began. "it allows the S-Fighter to fly at incredible speeds without the need of large amounts of energy. Also, it powers up the weaponry installed on the plane, such as the missiles, guns, lasers and even the shield."

"I want to know how comfy it is flying in that thing." Donkey Kong asked. "Yeah sure, you have all that special equipment with you, but does it have suitable resting quarters that, you know, fit me?"

"Don't worry about that, the plane has plenty of room to relax inside." Tails assured them. "The S-Fighter was built to possess both the comfort of a private jet and the power of a jet fighter. There are rooms where you can sleep in, watch movies and even eat inside!"

"Sounds good to me!" Yoshi said happily. "I want to fly in the S-Fighter right away! When are we going to hunt for another Chaos Emerald already? I'm pumped for adventure!"

"Oh yeah! That reminds me," Tails said. He went back to his workbench and took out his Miles Electric. Behind the gadget was a slot where the Red Chaos Emerald was placed into. "I just finished upgrading the Emerald Radar. With it, we can see the locations of all the Chaos Emeralds around the planet."

"You never cease to amaze us with your genius intellect, Tails." Sonic said, this time giving Tails a high-five. "We should check to see where the rest of the Chaos Emeralds are."

The heroes grouped around the Miles Electric to see what the Emerald Radar would tell them. An image of Sonic's planet appeared on screen. Coordinates of all seven Chaos Emeralds appeared on screen. The Red Chaos Emerald was, obviously, with them on Westside Island. The Green Chaos Emerald, which was with Shadow, appeared to be nearing the continent of Holoska. The Blue and Purple Chaos Emeralds were surprisingly together and were moving towards Chun-nan, which was also the location of the Cyan Chaos Emerald. The Yellow Chaos Emerald was somewhere on Shamar, while the White Chaos Emerald was on the same continent as Empire City.

"This is great!" Mario exclaimed. "We can see where all the Chaos Emeralds are! This is really going to help us on the long run. If only I had this kind of technology for when I was searching for the Power Stars."

"Which Chaos Emerald should we go after first?" Knuckles asked the others. "There are so many choices."

"Why don't we go after the one in Chun-nan?" Sonic suggested. He pointed out that both the Blue and Purple Chaos Emeralds were moving towards the same location, which also had the Cyan Chaos Emerald. Thinking that something was fishy, Sonic wanted them to go there first. If he was right, they could snag the three Chaos Emeralds at the same time.

"That seems like a good idea." Yoshi said. "It's like taking all of the food from a buffet table before anyone else can."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Knuckles asked. Yoshi simply looked back and shook his head in disappointment.

Just then, the telephone rang upstairs. Tails rushed up to answer it, then came back down with the phone in hand. "Sonic! It's for you."

Puzzled of who called, Sonic grabbed the phone and answered it. To his surprise, it was Amy. She had called after finding out Sonic infiltrated G.U.N's base. "Sonic! Are you alright?" Her voice had a worried tone to it.

"Oh, hey Amy. I'm fine." Sonic assured her. "Why'd you call?"

"I just wanted to check on you." Amy told him. "I just saw the news report on television about you attacking G.U.N's base."

"Don't worry Ames, I'm fine. I can easily take out anything with my speed. What do you expect from me? " Sonic joked with her. His quirky remark made Amy angry.

"Sonic! You're not being serious! This is no time for jokes! I was genuinely worried about you! Do you know how dangerous it is to break into the military?" Surprised by her reaction, Sonic apologized to her. Amy quickly calmed down. "Anyway, mind explaining to me why you had to break into G.U.N's base?"

"Well, you see, we had to pick up a little friend of ours." Sonic explained to her what happened to Donkey Kong. How he was captured by Shadow and Rouge and was brought into the base in captivity so they could do tests on him. Luckily, Mario and Sonic came in for the rescue.

"That sounds terrible." Amy said, horrified to think Donkey Kong had gone through such a terrifying and unexpected event. "Is Donkey Kong okay?"

"Don't worry, he's better than ever." Sonic said. He looked back to see Donkey Kong giving Yoshi and Tails a ride on his back. "Speaking of our friends, how is Blaze? Is she feeling any better?"

"She's doing fine. In fact, I think she'll be back to her normal strength by tomorrow." Amy suddenly paused and sighed. Sonic asked her what was wrong. "You see, I just realized we haven't been able to spend time together for the last couple of weeks. I sort of missed being around you. And our friends."

Sonic figured out what she was talking about. Ever since he and the others were going around the world on epic adventures, she was stuck at home with Cream. For once, Sonic was thinking about what Amy was going through. If it was him in that situation, he would've been bored out of his mind.

"Hey listen, I have an idea." Sonic began. "You see, Tails and Knuckles took the time to build us a new aircraft for us to fly around in. Tomorrow we're going to Chun-nan to find a few more Chaos Emeralds. I was wondering...you interested in coming along with us?"

Amy was overjoyed to hear his request. Of course, she said yes to him. Sonic asked her if she could bring Cream and Blaze along with them, saying they could use their help and it would be a lot more fun with them around.

So it was planned that the heroes would venture to Chun-nan in hopes of finding the Cyan Chaos Emerald there and supposedly the Blue and Purple Chaos Emeralds. With the team they had with them, they were determined to complete their mission.

* * *

**_Eggman's Secret Headquarters, Hanger Room_**

The hanger room was located near the upper levels of the headquarters. It house the many destroyed machines of Eggman, which were used to try and defeat Sonic. Of course, due to their broken state, it was obvious they had no chance against the hedgehog.

Right now, Orbot was in the room, waiting for Cubot to come up. He had called him after he found an interesting machine of Eggman's. Coming up with an idea, Orbot wanted to show Cubot and explain the plan he'd come up with.

"I'm here Orbot!" Cubot said as he hovered into the room and waved at him. "What was it that you wanted me to come up for?"

"Come here, Cubot. I want you to see this." Orbot motioned him to come forward. He led them to the corner of the hanger room. There, was a large hovercraft of Eggman's. The main body of the machine was in a diamond shape and it was where the cockpit was located in. The wings were shaped in sharp and bent, giving the whole hovercraft the shape of a boomerang. The wings were colored red, while the cockpit was grey.

"What is that? I've never seen that machine before." Cubot asked.

"Remember right before Eggman had disappeared, he was working on his new machine." Orbot explained. He pointed at the hovercraft. "This is what he was working on. It is called the Egg Boomerang."

"That's cool!" Cubot exclaimed. He hovered up to the Egg Boomerang for a closer look. "So what do you have in mind with this thing?"

"I'm thinking we could use it to help in our capture for the one who might have caused Eggman's disappearance. That plumber fellow, Mario." Orbot told him. "Eggman had already finished building the machine and only needed a power source. Luckily, we have one." Orbot showed the Yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand.

"Do you think we'll be able to do this ourselves?" Cubot asked. "I mean, we were never programmed to fly a plane."

Orbot hovered up to the cockpit of the Egg Boomerang and opened it, climbing inside and taking the wheel. "It cannot be that hard. I'm sure that _anyone _can learn how to fly a plane. Even if it's their first time."

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes now have a new aircraft at their disposal: the Star Fighter! And now that they know where the rest of the Chaos Emeralds are, the real question is: will they be able to retrieve them all? And will Orbot and Cubot's new hovercraft be able to catch Mario? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**A/N: I kind of rushed the ending for this chapter. I was procrastinating too much this week and forgot about finishing this chapter, so I'm sorry if the writing isn't that good near the end. **

**The design of the ship is based off the picture I found on the internet. For a much better image than my _lousy_ descriptive skills can offer, search up "Lockheed Martin Private Jet" on google and look at the second image. That's what the Star Fighter is supposed to look like. I chose that design because of the way those two edges on top of the plane reminded me of fox ears, which makes sense since Tails built the plane. With Knuckles, of course.**

**I remembered about the Power Star that Mario and his friends gave to Sonic back in Chapter 45: Goodbye Forever? I wanted to put some use into that Power Star and finally found a way to add it in the story. Hope you guys liked the twist!**

**Thanks for reading this week's chapter and for supporting me all this time. I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for you guys. Please leave a review if you have the time to, as I like reading what you guys have to say. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They belong to both Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	64. Attack on the Star Fighter!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 64: Attack on the Star Fighter!_**

* * *

_**Inside the Star Fighter**_

Flying through the air was the Star Fighter, or S-Fighter for short. It was the aircraft's first time being airborne. It looked marvelous soaring through the sky, with its beautiful coat of gold paint shining from the sun's light. Right now, it was headed its way to the continent of Chun-nan, where the next location of the Chaos Emeralds were.

Tails sat down in the cockpit, leisurely flying the aircraft. The cockpit was not impressively huge, only having a seat for one person. It had many control panels surrounding the seat, and there was enough space for whoever piloted to walk around.

It feels well to be flying once again. Tails thought to himself as he kept his eyes through the cockpit's window, seeing the view of the numerous clouds they passed in the air. There was absolutely nothing for him to be worried about while flying, which was a pleasurably comfort for the fox.

In the cabin of the Star Fighter, the rest of the heroes relaxed in its comfort. While building the Star Fighter, Tails and Knuckles made sure to make flights more enjoyable for the passengers.

The cabin was fitted with some luxury treatments. On one side of the cabin was the passengers seats. The seats were made with comfortable leather material. The windows of the cabin were located on the same wall, allowing the passengers a glimpse of the outside. On the opposite cabin wall, was a big screen television that allowed the passengers to watch programs while they were bored. It even had a gaming console to pass the time.

Near the back of the cabin, was a miniature food bar that held a shelf full of various snacks and beverages, in case anybody became hungry during flight. A door at the back of the cabin lead to a hallway connecting to both the washroom and the engine room, which was power with the energy of the Power Star. Obviously both located in their own rooms.

Right now, our heroes relaxed while on their flight to Chun-nan. Donkey Kong and Knuckles were attached to the big screen television, brawling against each other on the gaming console. Yoshi and Mario were both enjoying themselves in the miniature bar, filling their stomachs at heart's content. Sonic, Amy, Cream and Blaze took comfort in the seats.

"I admit, Tails really did a good job on this airplane," Amy said, gazing around at the aircraft's interior. She sat beside Sonic, who was taking a nap in his seat. Amy turned to him and carefully rested her head onto his shoulder. "I'm glad you asked us to join us Sonic. It means a lot to me."

"Mmm...yep." Sonic lazily grumbled in his sleep, unaware that he was cuddling with Amy.

"Tails can build anything!" Cream exclaimed as she gazed around at the plane's interior. She had Cheese sitting snuggly on her lap, watching as Donkey Kong and Knuckles barked at each other over their video game.

"Hey, don't forget that I helped building this aircraft!" Knuckles reminded her, keeping his eyes at the video game on-screen.

"Don't worry Knuckles, I haven't forgotten about your effort." Cream assured him. She turned beside her to Blaze and was about to ask her opinion about the Star Fighter, but noticed that she seemed uneasy. "Blaze, is something the matter?"

"What?" Blaze asked, turning back to Cream. She didn't hear the rabbit's question, so she asked her to repeat it. "Oh, it's nothing really. I'm fine."

After a considerable amount of time healing after the incident back in Aquatic Ruins, Blaze was back in tip-top shape. Although, even if she felt better physically, her fear of heights still retained in her. Flying in an aircraft at high altitudes wasn't her thing. She felt a bit nervous in her seat. She couldn't wait until they landed safely on ground.

"Hah! This snack bar is the best thing on this airplane!" Yoshi squealed in delight. He had his head sticking inside the refrigerator, soon taking out a huge container of milk and setting it on the counter. "Hey Mario, I challenge you to see if you can chug all of this milk in one go without throwing up!" He turned to the plumber, only to see him hunched down on the counter seat, depressed. Yoshi asked if anything was okay.

"I'm still worrying about the princess." Mario told him. While they were enjoying their luxurious flight, Peach was still back in Apotos, lying in bed with a serious coma.

"Come on Mario, cheer up." Yoshi said, patting his friend on the back. "Don't you remember what this whole trip is about? We're going to find more Chaos Emeralds to heal Peach back to normal."

Mario nodded. But still, if it wasn't for a certain black hedgehog, Peach would have been cured sooner and would be with them on the plane, also enjoying the flight. But of course, a heroes job was never easy. No matter what, Mario was determined to do anything to save Peach.

Sonic started to wake up from his slumber. He rubbed his eyes and gave out a short yawn. He looked beside him to see Amy cuddling with him, sleeping as well. Instead of his usual reaction, which consisted of freaking out and running away, he carefully nudged her. "Hey, wake up sleepyhead."

Amy slowly rose her head and also awakened. The two hedgehogs looked at each other and smiled.

"Those two seem to be really nice to each other," Blaze spoke in a surprised voice. From her knowledge, she thought that Sonic wasn't too pleasant for Amy's romantic bid towards now, they seemed to be on equal terms with one another, especially Sonic.

"Well, I'm sure one can change if you allow them some space for themselves and time to realize what their actions can do to someone." Cream explained. Blaze simply looked at her in amazement.

"I'm impressed Cream. Never would I expect such wise words come from an adolescent. Although I should learn to not be caught off-guard from you. You always find a way to surprise me" Cream simply looked back and smiled to Blaze.

"Hey, can you guys quiet down for a minute? I'm almost about to beat Donkey Kong for the first time." Knuckles complained. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way the echidna had hoped. Once again, he found himself to lose against Donkey Kong.

"Woohoo! I win again!" Donkey Kong cheered. He stood up and raised his hands in the air, feeling victorious on his 25th time beating Knuckles in the video game. He beat his hands on his chest wildly in celebration.

"GAH! I hate this game!" Knuckles shouted in frustration. He threw his controller on the ground, smashing it into pieces. "It's because of these stupid controls! How am I supposed to win while wearing these stupid gloves?"

"Isn't it obvious? Take them off." Sonic said as he got up from his seat. Knuckles shook his head to him, saying he could never have the will power to take off his gloves. It would feel...too different for him. Sonic shrugged and headed his way to the cockpit to check up on Tails.

"How's our pilot doing?" Sonic asked, putting a hand onto Tails shoulder. The fox smiled and nodded to him.

"I'm A-OK." Tails replied. "The energy of the Power Star is spectacular! I barely need to use more than 50% of it's full power to simply fly this plane. I feel blessed with this type of power source."

"Yeah, and hopefully you'll be lucky that neither of us accidently crash it, just like your other planes." Sonic joked. Even Tails chuckled along with him. The fox knew nothing could even lay a scratch on the S-Fighter. It was one of his most indestructible machine after all.

All seemed well in the skies. It would only be a few more hours until the heroes reached Chun-nan. After a few minutes of flying, Tails suddenly noticed something on the radar of the S-Fighter. It began beeping.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked. He waited until Tails responded to him.

"Hmm, this seems odd." Tails spoke. The radar showed that there were small, numerous flying objects surrounding the S-Fighter. "It looks like a group of something is flying near the aircraft. And it's getting closer."

"Could just be a flock of birds." Sonic suggested.

"No, these things appear to be much bigger than birds." Tails explained. He waited until one of the objects on the radar moved in front of the Star Fighter. He looked out the cockpit window and was surprised to see a red robot flying outside. It's arms and back were replaced with missiles. And they were aiming towards them.

"Oh no! It's one of Eggman's robots!" Tails yelled in panic. He recognized the model to be one of the Egg Launchers.

The robot in front shot a missile towards the Star Fighter. Luckily, Tails was a master pilot, and flew the Star Fighter up, dodging the missile. The other Egg Launchers began shooting their missiles at them.

"Tell everyone to fasten their seatbelts!" Tails commanded Sonic. The hedgehog didn't hesitate to run back into cabin and warn the others. Tails then quickly maneuvered the Star Fighter to avoid the oncoming missiles.

"What's happening!" screamed Cream. She held tightly onto Cheese, while Blaze held tightly to the both of them.

"Eggman's robots are attacking the Star Fighter!" Sonic told the others. The aircraft suddenly took a sharp tilt to the left, causing everyone to lose their balance and fall onto the floor.

"This is why I don't like airplanes!" Blaze shouted as she held tightly onto the floor. Mario and Yoshi held tightly onto the snack bar counter, while everyone else held on the seats.

"This would be a good time to buckle up!" Knuckles said as he crawled onto one of the seats and fastened his seat belt. Everyone else did the same thing, except for Donkey Kong, who was much too large to fit within the seatbelts.

"Hey! What about me?" Donkey Kong said, pointing to himself.

"You're pretty strong, right? Then use your hands and get a good grip onto something!" Sonic told him. Donkey Kong quickly looked around and held tightly onto the snack bar counter.

Meanwhile, the Egg Launchers continued to give chase to the Star Fighter, shooting missiles at the same time. Tails easily maneuvered the aircraft to dodge the oncoming attacks, but he knew he couldn't simply do this all day.

"It's time to fight back!" Tails said. He quickly pushed a large, red button on the control panel. Suddenly, two gun turrets appeared on top of the Star Fighter. The turrets were automatic, so no manual aiming was necessary. The turrets aimed by themselves and shot at the Egg Launchers, taking out the group of attackers one by one.

"Would you look at that?" Mario said, looking out from the cabin windows. The others also peeked out, seeing each Egg Launcher being taken out by a barrage of bullets puncturing through their bodies.

"I would hate to be one of those robots right now." Sonic joked.

The automatic gun turrets quickly took out the last of the Egg Launchers. Thinking the danger was over, Tails retreated the turrets back into the aircraft and took the time to get the Star Fighter back on course. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard on top of the aircraft. Tails turned to the radar and onscreen it showed a few more robots were above the ship. Quickly realizing what was happening, Tails shouted back to the others.

"You guys! Eggman's robots landed on the aircraft!"

"You're kidding?" Knuckles asked. His question was answered when the door from the back of the cabin was broken down and in came a small group of Egg Fighters. They were followed by Aero-Cannons, which were small, blue floating robots that had laser cannons on their chests.

"Watch out!" Blaze shouted. An Aero-Cannon quickly shot towards Cream and Cheese, but Blaze quickly pushed them out of the way, getting hit by the laser herself. She groaned in pain, but luckily the damage wasn't too severe.

"Hey! Don't hurt my friends like that!" Yoshi shouted. He gave a small growl and shot his tongue at one of the Aero-Cannons, trapping it in his mouth. He aimed at another Aero-Cannon and shot the one in his mouth towards that one, destroying both robots.

"There are no such things as free flights for guys like you!" Donkey Kong shouted as he punched out one of the Egg Fighters. His punch was powerful enough to knock the robot back through the cabin door, landing in the hallway. The damage of the punch broke down the Egg Fighter.

Another Egg Fighter swiped towards Amy, missing her by a few inches. "You know it's not polite to hit a girl!" Furious, she took out her hammer and swung it full force at the robot, knocking it down on the ground.

"It's time for me to get a little action on this plane!" Knuckles gave out a war cry and jumped in the air, slamming down a two-fisted punch on the Egg Fighter Amy knocked down, crushing it's body. "Yeah! Now this is something I can win for sure!"

Mario jumped onto the last Egg Fighter and held onto it's head. The robot struggled to shake him off. While it was distracted, Sonic took the time to charge up a Spin-Dash and shot himself through the robot's body, destroying it.

"Fantastic teamwork!" Mario cheered, high-fiving Sonic. The others also cheered in their victory against the robot attack.

"Everything's alright in the cabin!" Sonic shouted back to Tails. The fox was relieved that both his friends and the Star Fighter were safe. Tails turned back to the radar, and to his dismay, saw that there was one more bogie chasing after them. This time, it was much larger than the previous attackers. Almost the size of a plane.

"I wouldn't relax just yet guys. We've got one more to take care of." Tails told the others. He watched carefully as the bogie flew in front of him. Looking through the cockpit window, Tails was surprised to see what appeared to be an aircraft in shape of a boomerang flying near them. Taking a closer look, he saw that Orbot and Cubot were flying the plane.

_Oh great...these guys again._

"Hey! Looks like our little heroes over here got themselves a fancy new plane!" Cubot said, hopping up and down in the passenger seat. Orbot himself was steering the Egg Boomerang.

"Too bad their plane isn't as powerful as ours!" Orbot said. Both he and Cubot laughed maniacally. They couldn't wait to take down the heroes with the Egg Boomerang. "Something that's powered by the Chaos Emerald will surely come out at top."

Suddenly, a laser gun appeared from the bottom of the Egg Boomerang's main body. It aimed towards the Star Fighter and shot a fast laser at it. Luckily, it missed.

In response, Tails re-activated the automatic gun turrets and aimed them at the Egg Boomerang. The gun turrets shot at the enemy plane, but it appeared to do little damage.

"This may be harder than I thought." Tails said to himself. "Luckily, I also had the courtesy of myself to install these." Tails pushed a yellow button on the control panel. This time, two miniature missiles popped out from the underside of the Star Fighter. Tails shot the missiles toward the Egg Boomerang. The plane was able to shoot down one of the missiles with it's laser cannon, but the second missile was able to land a hit on the Egg Boomerang's right wing.

"Whoa! Watch where you shoot those things!" Cubot shouted. Orbot had to carefully regain their flight pattern as the plane shook from the missile's impact. It did a number on the Egg Boomerang, but it wasn't enough to take it out.

"It's time to show our heroes what this plane can really do." Orbot said. He quickly pushed a button that had the words "ATTACK" on it. Suddenly, the Egg Boomerang began to spin wildly in the air, still retaining it's flight path. It suddenly swerved towards the Star Fighter and hit it, knocking the Star Fighter away and spinning towards the ground.

"WHA! What is happening!" Yoshi screamed as he hung tightly onto his seat. Everyone else did the same. It felt like an out-of-control amusement park ride inside the spinning Star Fighter.

"Come on!" Tails shouted in frustration. He put all his effort into putting the Star Fighter back into flight. He steered the aircraft back upwards and struggled to balance it back into flight.

"Ugh...I think I'm going to throw up!" Knuckles said, holding his stomach. His head felt like it was still spinning. Suddenly, he felt something climbing up his stomach. Realizing what was about to happen, Knuckles rushed out of the cabin and into the aircraft's washroom.

"I'm surprised I don't feel sick from all this." Blaze said. She was breathing hard in her seat. She began praying in her seat, hoping that she and everyone else on the plane would make it out alive.

Mario had landed on the floor while the Star Fighter was taking a spinning nose-dive towards the ground. He climbed into a seat and looked out the window. His eyes grew wide when he saw the spinning Egg Boomerang flying back towards him. "Mamamia! It's-a coming back!"

Tails had noticed the Egg Boomerang coming back for them. This time he was ready and just as the two planes were about to collide, he steered the Star Fighter out of the way. The Egg Boomerang just barely missed and continued flying past them. Suddenly, it curved through the air and aimed back at the heroes.

"There's gotta be a way to take down that plane." Tails said. He began to think of a plan. Suddenly, he began to hear a small argument come from the cabin.

"No! You can't do that! It's too dangerous!"

"I have to do it."

"You'll risk your life if you do this!"

"I have to try. I want to save you guys. You're my friends."

"It's good that you think that, but what if something goes wrong?"

_What's going on back there?_ Tails thought to himself. He turned back to see that Yoshi, Amy and Cream were arguing with Donkey Kong. After listening to their fight, it was all clear to Tails. Donkey Kong wanted to stand on top of the Star Fighter so he could knock down the Egg Boomerang.

_Would that really work?_ Tails thought it through his head. Donkey Kong was one of the strongest out of all the heroes. If he knew what he was doing, he probably could do it.

The Egg Boomerang suddenly swerved past the Star Fighter, this time passing right under them. The heroes had to think fast. They couldn't dodge the attacking enemy plane all day.

"Are you sure about this Donkey Kong?" Sonic asked the ape. He nodded at him. If it would save his friends, then he'd risk everything he had in order to protect them. "Alright...I'll go ask Tails-"

"Don't worry, I heard everything." Tails called to them. He pushed a white button on the control panel, which opened an emergency hatch on top of the Star Fighter, big enough of Donkey Kong to climb out of.

Taking a deep breath, Donkey Kong jumped to the hatch opening and climbed through it. He held tightly on the edges and found himself facing the outside of the plane. The wind was strong, so he had to be careful he didn't lose his grip.

To his left, he saw the Egg Boomerang spinning towards them. Donkey Kong gave an angry look. There was no way he'd allow it to hit the Star Fighter and endanger his friends once more. He held his right arm up in the air and waited until the Egg Boomerang was close enough. He couldn't be too early or too late. A slight miscalculation, and he' be sliced by the wing of the Egg Boomerang.

The Egg Boomerang quickly got closer. Just as it was about to hit the plane once more, Donkey Kong gave out a loud growl and swung his hand with a mighty fist.

_CRASH!_

The Egg Boomerang was knocked back from the powerful punch. It tumbled through the air and began to descend at a rapid pace. Orbot and Cubot screamed in fright as the Egg Boomerang disappeared into the clouds.

The Yellow Chaos Emerald also fell with the two robots.

"I did it!" Donkey Kong cheered. He began to beat his chest in victory. It was only a matter of seconds until he realized he had let go of the plane, allowing him to fly off from the top.

"GOTCHA!" Mario said as he grabbed Donkey Kong's feet before the ape could fly through the air like a ragdoll. Donkey Kong looked back to see that the heroes had chained together, with Knuckles holding onto the snack counter at the end of the chain, so they could grab onto Donkey Kong. The heroes pulled each other back into the Star Fighter, tumbling down onto the floor.

"You guys are the best!" Donkey Kong exclaimed, giving all of them a big gorilla hug at once. He was grateful that they risked their lives just to save them.

"You would've done the same for us." Sonic said, speaking for all of them. The heroes were still embraced in Donkey Kong's hug. "And besides, you risked your life to save us."

The heroes continued to praise Donkey Kong for his heroic act. While they began to celebrate, Tails suddenly called to them. "

"Get ready everyone. We've finally reached Chun-nan."

Eager to see the continent, the heroes looked through their cabin windows. Below, they could see the vast land of Chun-nan. It was located in a mountainous region, and contained bamboo forests rushing rivers and tall pagodas. You could see the Great Wall of Chun-nan: a large, stone wall that ran through the whole continent.

"Wow...this place sort of reminds me of Pagoda Peaks back in our world." Yoshi said, amazed at the sight of Chun-nan.

"I've never been to this place before. I can't wait to land so we can explore it." Cream said excitedly.

"Somewhere here is the Cyan Chaos Emerald." Sonic reminded them. If the Emerald Radar on Tails' Miles Electric was right, both the Blue and Purple Chaos Emeralds were heading to the same location as well. Someone was looking for the Chaos Emeralds as well.

It would be a matter of time before the heroes would meet them.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

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**_After a lengthy aerial battle with Orbot and Cubot, the heroes have arrived in Chun-nan! What surprises await for them? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

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**A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I finally got to show what the Star Fighter is capable of. Don't think that's everything the aircraft can do, I've got lots more ideas for it that I'll show in upcoming chapters.**

**Some surprising things will happen while the heroes are in Chun-nan. To go off-topic from the story, I thought Chun-nan was one of my favorite levels in Sonic Unleashed, tied with Empire City and Spagonia, in terms of music and level design. The games' levels really knew how to grasp the life of it's real-world counterparts.**

**Keep in mind of the locations of the Chaos Emeralds. It may hint to what might happen next in the story. **

**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are appreciated! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega~**


	65. Chun Nan Fun!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 65: Chun-Nan Fun!**_

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_**Chun-Nan, Outside the village**_

The heroes had landed the Star Fighter near a pond within the mountains. The area around them was surrounded by a valley, and the rocky terrain was covered with lush vegetation, such as bamboo and trees. Pagodas were built near the pond, with small waterfalls pouring into it. The sky was overcast with clouds, but the sunlight was able to peer through them. On the other side of the pond was a pathway that led to the village below.

"This place looks magnificent." Blaze said as she and the rest of the heroes climbed off the Star Fighter. She was greatly relieved that they were on safe ground and not high in the air.

"You know, a place like this makes me wanna do some kung-fu!" Knuckles exclaimed. He began to do some crazy punches and kicks wildly in front of him, only to accidently feed his foot into Donkey Kong's face.

"I think you should hire a martial arts teacher...that was one of the worst kung-fu I've ever seen." Donkey Kong groaned as he rubbed his face in pain.

"Is it me...or do I smell noodles?" Yoshi said as he began sniffing the air. No scent was able to evade the dinosaur's alert smell. "Oh boy! I'm already hungry! Let's say we grab a quick bite!"

"Hold up Yoshi. We're on a mission, remember?" Mario reminded him. He turned to Sonic and Tails, who were looking over on the Miles Electric. The plumber joined them.

"So, any clue on where the Chaos Emerald is?" Sonic asked Tails. The fox began going through his device's apps and started up the Emerald Radar, which was powered by their Red Chaos Emerald.

"Seems like the emerald is located somewhere south from here." Tails said. He pointed to where the Emerald Radar estimated the emerald's location. It was somewhere hidden deep in the mountain range. The heroes would need to pass through the village in order to get there.

"I wonder if we'll see any pandas around here." Amy said to Cream, as the heroes headed their way into the village. Cream hoped they would see a crane flying around somewhere. She loved how elegant they looked.

The heroes walked on the pathway towards the village. It was located over a shallow lake, covered with lily pads and surrounded by tall rocks and small waterfalls. A stone stairway lead into the village. The buildings were made up of small pagoda-like buildings. A bridge in the middle of the village connected to all the houses. Red lanterns hung around the village, which appeared to be used to light up the night.

The village appeared to be very busy. People were hurrying around, carrying fireworks, food dishes and decorations such as candles, fancy lanterns, dragon masks and red paper envelopes. It was if a festivity was about to happen.

"Is it someone's birthday?" Donkey Kong murmured to Knuckles, who could simply shrug in confusion.

"Uh... excuse me," Cream called to one of the villagers. She had grabbed the attention of a small boy, who was wearing a blue jacket, black pants and had a mushroom-like haircut. "May you explain to me why everyone looks busy around here?"

"Today is the Meat Bun Festival!" the small boy exclaimed. He began to explain the meaning of the holiday. It all started with an old tale where a dragon terrorized a village. One year, a mystical creature, resembling traits of a phoenix and a peacock, drove the evil dragon away and protected the village. Every year, the villagers would celebrate once a year for the good fortune the creature brought to them by having a festival and offering the creature meat buns.

"That sounds fun! Especially the part where everyone makes a lot of meat buns!" Yoshi exclaimed. He couldn't hold his ambition for the cuisines any longer. An old lady passed by the heroes, carrying a bowl of fresh meat buns. The scent attracted Yoshi, causing him to follow the old lady.

"Hey! Hold up Yoshi!" Knuckles called back to him. "That stuff actually looks good. I wanna try some!" He quickly followed Yoshi behind.

"Looks like the group is already splitting up." Blaze said, watching as Yoshi and Knuckles walked into the restaurant where all the food was being gathered for the night's festivities.

"Let them enjoy themselves for now." Sonic insisted. "We'll catch up with them right after we find the Chaos Emerald around here." He turned to Tails, who was already flying his way towards the emerald's location.

"Is it okay if I stay here with and play with the children?" Cream asked Blaze. Behind them was the small boy the group had talked to, along with some other children of the village. They were preparing to make costumes for the New Year parade later that night. Blaze allowed her to join the children.

"Hey, I was thinking, maybe you should stay with the others here while the rest of us search for the Chaos Emerald." Sonic told Amy. "I have a feeling there's gonna be loads of danger inside the mountains."

"But Sonic! Don't you remember the whole reason of me coming with you?" Amy reminded him. She was starting to get a little angry at him. "It's so we could spend more time with each other. I can't believe you forgot already!"

"I could never enjoy your company if you go hurt." Sonic confessed to her. His statement seemed to calm Amy down a bit. Did he really mean that? "And besides, I was hoping we'd get a little ice cream during the New Year's celebration afterwards."

"Promise?" Amy asked him. Sonic grinned and held out his pinky to her. Smiling, Amy held out her pinky and crossed it with Sonic's.

"Come on, Sonic." Mario called out to him. He waited at the entrance gate of the village, along with Tails, Donkey Kong and Blaze. Sonic rushed to the group and began to head their way towards the mountains.

The village itself was near the base of a mountain, so it didn't take the heroes long for them to reach the base the grounds of Chun-Nan. The came across a big river that ran through a huge canyon area. There was small islets with bamboo growing on them. More waterfalls were pouring from the sides. Red bridges and pagoda houses were built on the water.

"According to my emerald radar," Tails began, looking at his Miles Electric. "this river is the quickest way for us to travel to the location of the Chaos Emerald. All we have to do is follow the river itself."

"How are we going to do that?" Blaze asked, pacing along the river bank. She knew they couldn't simply swim through the whole river. It was much too long and they'd get exhausted. Plus, she knew that she and Sonic weren't fond of getting themselves wet.

"Hey! What is that over there?" Donkey Kong said, pointing towards something that hid behind an island of tall bamboo. Floating in the water, was a large, red boat. It was in the shape of a dragon, with the head replacing the bow. It had a large, white mast.

"It looks like a boat." Sonic said. "Maybe we can use it to float across the river. Who here is good at steering a ship?" Donkey Kong quickly raised his hand. "Alright, big guy. You're going to be our captain."

"One problem...how do we get to the boat?" Mario asked. Tails came up with a plan to fly Donkey Kong over to the boat. He tried to carry Donkey Kong, but the ape was too heavy for him to lift.

"I have an idea." Blaze said. She told Donkey Kong to walk to the edge of the river bank. Donkey Kong did as he was told, only to be pushed unexpectedly into the water by Blaze herself. Donkey Kong began to splash around in panic, only to calm down.

"Hey! Why would you do that?" Donkey Kong yelled at her. Blaze told him he could simply swim to the abandoned boat and float it to them so everyone could climb in.

"Well, you could've told me that before you pushed me into the water!" Donkey Kong complained to her. Blaze simply rolled her eyes and told him to get the boat. The ape quickly swam to the boat and climbed onto it. It took him a minute to figure out the boat's controls. In a few minutes, he got everyone on the boat and began to sail across the river.

"Well, this is going to be a relaxing trip to the emerald." Sonic said. He leaned against the mast of the ship, gazing around the river while they sailed. The hedgehog had to admit, Chun-Nan was one of the most jaw-dropping landscapes he had ever seen. It had so much culture around it and the region had many unique traits to it.

"I'll be lookout on the crow's nest." Tails told the others. He flew near the top of the mast of the boat and landed in the small basket, allowing him a bird's eye view of the whole river. He held his Miles Electric high in the air. Sure enough, the emerald radar slowly began to pick up the energy of the Chaos Emerald.

Meanwhile, a lone figure hid in the bamboo brush on a small islet near the side of the river. It kept a sharp eye on the boat the heroes were sailing on. In their hand, was a radar. The figure had followed the radar, which led him to Chun-Nan. His goal was to find the Chaos Emeralds. And he had found the location of one of them.

_There must be another emerald on that boat._ The figure thought. Knowing where one of the Chaos Emeralds were, he knew what he must do.

"Wow, that's pretty cool!" Mario exclaimed as he watched Blaze cast a flame in her hand. She began to spin around, causing her to appear as a small tornado of fire. The ability amazed Mario. "Whoa! I don't think I could ever do that with the Fire Flower! You're amazing!"

"Thanks." Blaze said, snapping the flame away from her hand. "I wasn't aware that you were skilled in pyrokinetic abilities like I am. You must show me sometime." Mario happily nodded to her.

"Hey! No playing with fire on my boat!" Donkey Kong shouted at the two, noticing their antics. "You might burn down the boat and ruin our chances of finding the Chaos Emerald!"

"Since when was this your boat?" Mario called him out. "I don't see your name anywhere, hmm?"

"Well, excuse me, but I don't see anyone else taking the helm and steering the boat themselves." Donkey Kong told them. "What, you think I'm just the personal boat driver for you guys? Yeah right!"

Tails seldom paid attention to Mario and Donkey Kong's banter and kept his eye on the emerald radar. It showed the location of the Cyan Chaos Emerald, which was the one the heroes were going after. But what caught the fox's attention was the fact that two Chaos Emeralds appeared to be in close proximity to them. More specifically, the Blue and Purple ones.

"This can't be right." Tails said to himself. If the radar was true, it showed the two emeralds were just a few feet away from the boat. He looked over to the supposed locations, only to see a small islet cover in bamboo.

"Is something the matter Tails?" Sonic called up to him. He had noticed the fox's confused look. Tails explained to him that the Blue and Purple Chaos Emeralds were supposedly on the small islet of bamboo.

"Really?" Sonic said., scratching his head in confusion. He then remembered that before, the emerald radar showed the two emeralds were moving towards Chun-Nan. Now they were near them. "Looks like we've got ourselves a follower."

Sonic went to the side of the boat, looking over to the small islet. He whistled loudly and waved his hand towards it. "Hey! Whoever is hiding there, please come out! We already know you're there!"

"What are you doing, Sonic?" Blaze asked him. Sonic continued to wave at the bamboo islet. He waited for whoever was hiding to pop out.

At first, no one appeared. Suddenly, a figure jumped out from the bush of bamboo. He soared high through the air and flipped wildly. He landed on the boat deck and eyed the heroes mischiefly.

The heroes were surprised by the unexpected assailant. They sported a black jumpsuit, a green bandana around their neck and a black mask the covered their eyes. The attacker had a very fancy mustache and brown hair.

"It's a ninja!" Donkey Kong exclaimed.

"NO! I'm not a ninja!" the assailant shouted angrily at Donkey Kong. " I am...the Green Shadow!" He posed triumphantly with his hands on his hips.

"It's you!" Blaze said. She recognized her attacker from Aquatic Ruins. It was him who had stolen the Purple Chaos Emerald from her. "You're the one who attacked me! You're the one who stole the Chaos Emerald."

The Green Shadow recognized Blaze. He was surprised to see her on the boat along with the heroes. At first, he panicked, wondering how she got there. But he remembered he had a mission to carry on. "You guys have something I want."

"You want the Chaos Emeralds, don't you?" Sonic said, walking up to the Green Shadow. "Well, sorry, but you can't have them."

"Wait...you're Sonic, aren't you?" the Green Shadow said, shocked to see him. It was the very enemy that Metal Sonic talked about. It was because of Sonic that they couldn't carry out their plans for ultimate power. "You're the one who keeps on bugging with Metal Sonic!"

"You work for Metal Sonic?" Sonic said. He was surprised Metal Sonic had accomplices. The hedgehog shook his head. "Gee, I never knew that robot resorted to having a sidekick like you. I thought he was strong enough to do things himself."

"Hey! Don't talk about my master like that! You're the real bad guy around here!" the Green Shadow screamed at Sonic. Out of the blue, he threw a punch at Sonic, knocking the hedgehog back. Mario and Blaze ran up to him and helped him up.

"Mamamia! What's wrong with you?" Mario said to the Green Shadow. "Didn't you're mama ever told you not to hit people while they're not looking? That's what cowards do!"

The Green Shadow said nothing. He could only look at Mario in shock. He remembered that Metal Sonic told him there was another one that looked exactly like him, except he wore red. Mario seemed to fit the description.

"You...you're Mario." the Green Shadow said, pointing a shaky hand at the plumber. "You're the one that looks like me. You and Sonic are my mortal enemies."

Mario could only give him a confused look. "Since when was I you're mortal enemy? I've never met you until this very second." Mario began to think this guy was talking crazy.

"No! Stop lying to me!" the Green Shadow began to screech out. "No wonder you guys are Metal Sonic's enemies. You keep trying to deceive us. Well, I'm going to shut you guys up and take what's rightfully ours."

Suddenly, the Green Shadow jumped high into the air and prepared to do a Ground Pound onto Mario. Luckily, Mario saw the attack and moved out of the way, dodging the attack. The Green Shadow landed on the deck of the boat, smashing the floor boards into pieces.

"Hey! You broke my ship! Now you're going to pay!" Donkey Kong roared angrily. He beat his chest and charged at the Green Shadow. He threw a punch down at him, but the Green Shadow rolled out of the way. Donkey Kong's fist slammed into the deck, further damaging it.

"It's time to get my payback!" Blaze said. She ran towards Luigi and performed her Axel Jump attack. She jumped into the air and created a mini fire tornado around her. She charged towards the Green Shadow, but he jumped high into the air, out of reach for Blaze. She collided into the mast of the ship, catching it on fire.

"Whoa! Tails! Get down from there!" Sonic yelled up to him. Tails looked down, seeing the mast on fire. He quickly flew out of the crow's nest and safely onto the boat deck. The mast burned down and tipped off the boat, into the river. The fire continued to spread.

"Quick! We've got to extinguish the fire!" Mario said to the heroes. Quickly thinking, Tails used his two tails and propelled them as fast as he could. He used the wind from his tails to blow out the fire.

During the trouble, Donkey Kong and the Green Shadow were fighting one another. Donkey Kong threw powerful punches, but the Green Shadow dodged the attacks. Donkey Kong roared at him. "Grawr! You broke my ship! You're going to wish you didn't do that!"

Suddenly, the ship began to turn wildly in the river. No one was at the helm to steer the boat. The boat began to sail towards a group of rocks.

"The boat is about to crash!" Sonic said. He turned to Donkey Kong, who was focused on knocking out the Green Shadow. "DK! Get back to the helm! We'll take care of this guy!"

Donkey Kong paused for a moment to realize what was happening. He quickly jumped back on helm and tried to sail the boat out of the rocks way. It was too late though, as the boat crashed into the rocks. It slowly began to sink.

"We've got to get off the boat!" Tails said to the heroes. He saw that they had reached the end of the river and were a few metres away from land. Before he could tell the others, the Green Shadow swiped away the Miles Electric away from him. He took out the Red Chaos Emerald out of the gadget.

"Finally! I got it!" the Green Shadow said. He stored the Chaos Emerald into his pocket and saluted the heroes. He jumped off the boat, onto the rocks and onto land, running away into the mountain range.

"Don't let him get away!" Mario said. Quickly, he did the same maneuver as the Green Shadow, jumping back onto land. The others followed suite. Donkey Kong was the last one to jump off the boat. He turned back to see it sink into the river.

"My boat..." Donkey Kong sighed. He lowered his head in disappointment. HE then had an angry look on his face. "Great bananas! That green bandana man is going to pay!" He beat his chest furiously and followed the heroes as they chased the Green Shadow.

The heroes and the Green Shadow ran through a small bamboo forests. The heroes were careful not to lose sight of him. When the Green Shadow reached the end of the bamboo forest, he came across the side of the mountain. The only way was up. Taking a few steps back he scaled the mountain side with his jumps.

"This guy can jump really high. Too bad he isn't the only one that can do that." Mario said with a smirk. He jumped up the mountain side effortlessly. Tails carried Sonic up the side, while Blaze used her speed and Fire Boost ability to rush up the mountain. Donkey Kong used his brute strength to scale the mountain.

"Stop following me!" the Green Shadow yelled down at the heroes. He picked up a nearby rock and threw it at Mario, who ducked his head to avoid the rock.

"Is that the best you've got?" Sonic said, catching the rock the Green Shadow threw. Tails suddenly spun Sonic around and threw him towards the Green Shadow. Sonic shot himself forward with a Homing Attack, intending to hit him. The attack landed, causing the Green Shadow to fall back and roll down the opposite side of the mountain.

The Green Shadow landed on what appeared to be on top of a large, wall structure. He realized he was on the Great Wall of Chun-Nan. The wall curved down the mountain side and below, he could only see the clouds that covered the rest of the mountain range.

"Big wall." the Green Shadow said to himself, overwhelmed by it's size. He didn't have any time for sight seeing as the heroes had caught up to him.

"Give it up already, Green whatever you are." Sonic said as he and the rest of the heroes caught up to him. The all got into their battle positions. "Look, all we want is our Chaos Emerald back. Hand it over and we'll let you go freely."

"Liar!" the Green Shadow yelled at them. "I know what you would do. You know I have more Chaos Emeralds! You'd beat me to death just to get the emeralds back! Well, jokes on you! I'm not going to give any emeralds to you!" Suddenly, the Green Shadow began to run down the Great Wall of Chun-Nan.

"Hey! Get back here! We need those Chaos Emeralds to save someone!" Mario said, chasing after the Green Shadow. Unfortunately for Mario, he wasn't fast enough to catch up to him. Knowing that the Great Wall sloped down a bit, he took the opportunity to jump and tackle the Green Shadow. The two began to tumble down the Great Wall until it slope back down into a flat position.

"Oof! That really hurt!" the Green Shadow moaned in pain. He sat up and checked over his body to see if he had any bruises. He rubbed his face and realized his mask had fallen off. "Oh no! Where's my mask?"

Mario slowly got up and shook away the pain. He looked to the Green Shadow who was unmasked and was shocked to see who it really was.

"Mamamia...Luigi, is that you?"

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes have found out what happened to Luigi! What other twist of events could happen next? Will the heroes still be able to collect the Chaos Emeralds? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**A/N: Mario and Luigi. Face-to-face. After, what, 18 chapters, they finally see each other for the first time in Sonic's world. Wonder what could happen next? Read next week's chapter to find out. ;)**

**I based off some locations of Chun-Nan from the actual level in Sonic Unleashed. The area where the heroes land is based off the hub in Chun-Nan in the 360/PS3 versions. The river is based off the part where Sonic runs on water in the level and the Great Wall of Chun-Nan is based off the beginning of the actual level. Remember, this is based off the level in the 360/PS3 versions, not the Wii/PS2.**

**I wonder if anyone will realize some of the references I've made in the beginning of the chapter. Kudos for the people that do. It's kind of obvious when you think about it.**

**Thanks for reading the chapter and for supporting me. You guys rock! Make sure to leave a review and tell others about this story. All your efforts are greatly appreciated! Bye for now! :D**

* * *

**-Azurixx**

**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	66. Brotherly Bond!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 66: Brotherly Bond!**_

* * *

_**Chun-Nan, on the Great Wall**_

Mario stared shockingly at his brother. Luigi was kneeling on the ground, breathing hard from their fight. He stared back to his brother, wondering why he wasn't fighting him anymore. Mask or no mask, Luigi thought, they were still enemies.

"What's going on?" Sonic said, as he and the rest of the heroes caught up to them. They all saw Luigi unmasked and were confused to what just happened. "Wait a minute, Luigi? We were fighting Luigi all this time?"

"Who's Luigi?" Blaze asked. Tails took the time to explain to her that Luigi was Mario's brother, and was a good friend of theirs as well. Blaze understood. "I see, then this may be a predicament right now."

"Bro," Mario calmly spoke. He took a step towards him, causing Luigi to slowly get up and back away. "I was looking all over for you-"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Luigi said, continuing to back away. He knew that he could have just run away, taking the Chaos Emeralds with him. But this feeling overwhelmed Luigi, as if telling him to stay. "Hold on...how do you know my name?"

"I'm-a your brother!" Mario told him. He was surprised Luigi didn't remember. It was as if his memory was erased. "Mamamia! Luigi, don't you remember what happened?"

"No...I don't..." Luigi confessed to him. He felt speechless. First of, he was told by Metal Sonic that Mario was his enemy, and now he was told they were brothers. What was going on?

"We can't be brothers," Luigi told him. "We're enemies. Metal Sonic told me this. He is the only one I can trust."

"Wha- But- that's not true!" Mario tried to convince him. He was shocked to hear the words come out of Luigi's mouth. It was as if he was a whole different person. "Did you bump your head onto something? Why can't you remember anything?"

"I do remember! I'm Metal Sonic's best friend... He's been there for me..." Luigi said. Although, he tried to tell the heroes, his was in doubt with his own statement. This turn of events made him wonder if he truly did know anything about himself.

"Stop saying that!" Mario suddenly shouted at him. His action caught everyone by surprise. "You're going coo-coo-crazy with what you're telling me! Metal Sonic tricked you in some way! He's the real bad guy!"

"SHUT UP!" Luigi screamed back. He had a distraught look on his face. "If you were my brother, then why can't you understand?" Suddenly, Luigi leaped off the Great Wall, landing on top of a floating dragon statue. He ran up it's body. All he wanted to do was run away.

"We need to go after him!" Sonic demanded. He was about to jump after Luigi when Mario stopped him. He shook his head, then pointed in the direction of the Cyan Chaos Emerald.

"You guys go after the emerald. I'll take care of my brother." Mario told them. The plumber thought that if he talked to Luigi alone, he could somehow convince him he was his brother and their friend. Sonic understood and led the others to where the next Chaos Emerald was.

Mario looked to where the floating dragon statue was, seeing Luigi still running up it's body. He took a big jump and landed on the statue, giving chase to his brother.

"How far is the emerald?" Sonic asked Tails as he and the others ran across the Great Wall of Chun-Nan. Tails couldn't use the emerald radar without their emerald, which Luigi had, so he had to use his memory.

"The emerald should be somewhere in these mountains." Tails explained.

"Well, that helps, there's a whole bunch of mountains here!" Donkey Kong said in a sarcastic voice. He decided to change the subject. "What do you think was up with Luigi? It looked like he didn't remember anything about us!"

"I have a feeling Metal Sonic had something to do with it." explained Tails. "Weren't you listening to what he was saying? He told us that Metal Sonic said they were 'best friends' and that we were his enemies."

"If I'm not mistaken, Luigi was a friend of yours, right?" Blaze asked, making sure. "Then why did he suddenly have a change of heart and started attacking us?

"I'm not 100% sure, but I think Luigi somehow gained amnesia when he entered our world." Tails explained. He wasn't sure though, if it was just a natural cause, or Metal Sonic did it himself. Either way, he made Luigi turn against the heroes.

"I just hope Mario can knock some sense back into Luigi." said Sonic. His amnesia problem reminded him of the time when Metal Sonic turned Luigi into a robot and turned him against the heroes.

_Luigi has sure had it rough_. Sonic thought. _I just hope he gets back to normal._

"Over there!" Tails suddenly exclaimed, pointing to a tall mountain with a large cave opening to it. The heroes stopped running to get a better look. "That's where I remember the emerald radar showed me! That's where the emerald is!"

"How in the world do we get over there?" Donkey Kong said, scratching his head. He peeked down the side of the Great Wall, seeing nothing but a thick layer of clouds at the bottom. There was no bridge they could walk on to get across the large trench and to the mountain cave.

"We need to improvise." said Blaze. She looked around the Great Wall and a few feet away from them were bamboo plants sticking out beside the wall. Gaining an idea, she went up to a bamboo plant, jumped to grab onto it, bent it down, aiming herself to the mountain cave and launched herself towards it. She soared through the air and landed on the mountain.

"Woohoo! That looks fun! I wanna try!" Donkey Kong exclaimed. He hurried up to a bamboo plants, grabbed on to two bamboo, due to his huge size, and launched himself. Donkey Kong gave out a happy roar as he flew through the air.

"That looks kind of dangerous." Tails said. He was used to flying through the sky, but never like that. One wrong move, and you could tumble down into the trench below.

"If you prefer, we can just fly there ourselves." Sonic insisted. Tails liked his idea. Grabbing onto Sonic's hand, the fox flew the two of them across the trench and into the mountain cave, joining the others.

"Aww, why didn't you guys launch yourselves with the bamboo? It's fun!" Donkey Kong asked.

"We like doing things our own way." Tails responded. He began to peer into the cavern. Luckily for the heroes, there were lamps built into the walls of the cavern, allowing light for them. "The emerald is in here somewhere. I know it."

"Then we'd better get moving." Sonic said. He motioned everyone to follow him. The heroes trekked through the mountain cavern, passing by nothing but the occasional boulders and rocks. Soon, the heroes found themselves in a large cavern area. In it was a tall pagoda tower stuck into the side of the rocks.

"How did this get in here?" Donkey Kong asked in astonishment. "Did someone build it, or did it just

"Nothing too important to us, all we need to do is find the Chaos Emerald." Blaze reminded him. She was about to head towards the pagoda tower when suddenly she noticed something at the entrance of it. It looked like an Egg Fighter, except it wielded a buzz-saw sword and a shield.

"Eggman's robots? I'm not surprised." Sonic said, shaking his head. "They're probably looking for the emerald too. No problem, makes things more exciting for us."

Sonic quickly charged a Spin-Dash attack and shot himself at the lone Egg Fighter, knocking it back. The Egg Fighter quickly pulled out a whistle, calling more Egg Fighters to come out of the pagoda tower and fight.

"Wow! There's a bunch of them here!" Tails said in astonishment. The amount of Egg Fighters didn't scare the heroes though. They all prepared for battle. The Egg Fighters did the same thing, pulling out their weapons.

"It's time to rumble!" Donkey Kong shouted, beating his chest and charging at the group of Egg Fighters. One by one, he punched away at the Egg Fighters. The robots used their shields to block the attacks, but it wasn't too much trouble for the ape. He simply grabbed the shields away from them and threw it back at them with a powerful force.

"These robots have nothing on me." Blaze said, suddenly enveloping her whole body on fire. She suddenly boosted into a group of Egg Fighters, knocking almost all of them onto their feet. She followed the attack by summoning a fire wall onto the group of Egg Fighters, burning them down.

"Whoo! This is awesome!" Sonic exclaimed. He and Tails suddenly grabbed hands and initiated a Rolling Spin-Attack Combo, knocking down the Egg Fighters like bowling pins. The reached the entrance of the pagoda tower. "Alright Tails, I want you and Donkey Kong to find the Chaos Emerald in the tower. Blaze and I will take care of this robot fiasco."

"Consider it done!" Tails answered. He waved to Donkey Kong, who was in the middle of slicing down Egg Fighters with their own buzz-saw swords. The gorilla jumped to the entrance and the two went inside.

"Watch out!" Donkey Kong suddenly warned Tails. The fox hadn't realized right after he walked in, two Egg Fighters swung their buzz-saw swords at him. Donkey Kong quickly reacted by jumping in front of Tails and grabbing onto the swords. The Egg Fighters struggled against the ape.

"I've got this one." Tails said. He hovered into the air and tackled the Egg Fighter on the right, knocking it back, allowing Donkey Kong to destroy the other Egg Fighter by grabbing it's sword and slicing it to pieces.

"Great teamwork!" Donkey Kong, high-fiving Tails, The two walked deeper into the pagoda tower, reaching the central room. The room was tall, almost making up the rest of the tower. There was a long flight of stairs that reached to the top. The emerald was most likely up there.

"Race you to the top." Tails teased Donkey Kong. He quickly propelled his tails and began flying to the top of the tower. Donkey Kong's only choice was to climb up the stairs. The ape groaned and reluctantly began his climb.

It took Tails almost half a minute to reach the top. Urgent to find the Chaos Emerald, he decided to look for it himself while Donkey Kong continued his way up the tower.

There was only one room at the top, and it appeared to be an ancient Chun-Nan throne room. There were paintings of animals, gold pillars and a red carpet that covered the whole room. Tails peeked inside, seeing a group of Egg Fighters in the room. One of them was holding the Cyan Chaos Emerald in his hand.

_Time for a sneak attack!_ Tails thought. Taking in his courage, Tails flew into the room and charged at the Egg Fighter holding the emerald. He knocked the robot back, causing it to let go of the emerald. It flew into the air. Tails saw it and caught it.

"Hahah! Yes! I got it!" Tails exclaimed in victory. He floated in the air, holding the Chaos Emerald in his hands. He was too busy cheering for himself to realize that the other Egg Fighters closed in on him. They aimed their buzz-saw swords at him.

"Get back!" Donkey Kong shouted. He suddenly jumped through the throne room entrance and landed on an Egg Fighter, throwing down a powerful punch on it. Half of the Egg Fighters started charging at the ape. "I'll take care of these guys! You handle the rest Tails!"

"Got it!" Tails answered. The fox quickly dodged a swipe from the Egg Fighter's buzz-saw sword. Wondering how he'd fight back, Tails remembered the Chaos Emerald in his hand. "This seems like an obvious choice."

Tails took in the power of the Chaos Emerald. Thinking about his Fire Flower abilities, he transformed into Fire Tails, gaining his red fur appearance and pyrokinetic abilities.

"Let's heat up this battle!" Tails exclaimed. He engulfed his whole body in fire and charged into a group of Egg Fighters. His quick flying abilities, mixed with his destructive flaming body was more than enough to crush through the bodies of the robots.

"Grraaggh!" Donkey Kong roared as he was wrestling with an Egg Fighter. The ape outsmarted the robot and carried it's whole body off the ground. He threw the body at the last remaining Egg Fighters. "You robots have nothing on this ape!"

"Nice job, Donkey Kong!" Tails said, high-fiving the gorilla. He had deactivated his Fire Flower abilities. The two looked at the mess of robots that scattered around the throne room. They were lucky there was no king that was using it at the time.

"Hey...what's that beeping noise?" Donkey Kong said with a confused look. Tails heard it too. It was coming from one of the dead Egg Fighters. Donkey Kong walked up to it and turned over it's body. He was surprised to see a timer had popped out of the Egg Fighter's head.

"No...it can't be..." Tails said, noticing the timer. If he was right, then in 2 minutes, something would happen. Something that they wouldn't want to stay around for. "Quick! We gotta warn Sonic and Blaze!"

"What? Why?" Donkey Kong asked. Before he could get an answer, Tails had already flown out of the throne room. Donkey Kong took another look at the timer, finally realizing what it was for. "Looks like things are about to end in a bang real soon!"

Outside the pagoda tower, Sonic and Blaze were effortlessly fighting against the horde of Egg Fighters. Sonic was using a combination of Homing Attacks and Spin-Dashes, slicing through the robots with ease. Blaze swept through them with her fiery attacks, consisting of Fire Boosts and Tornado Flames.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled to him. The hedgehog landed on top of a robot and looked up to him. Tails pointed at the pagoda tower. "We need to get out of here! There's a bomb that is about to explode!"

"A bomb?" Sonic replied, shocked. Things had just gotten a little more exciting for him. The heroes had to get out of the cavern, fast. But it would take them a while to get out with a horde of Egg Fighters blocking them. Sonic noticed the Chaos Emerald in Tails' hand. "Throw me the Chaos Emerald!"

Tails chucked the emerald to Sonic. He caught it and, in mid-air, transformed to Rainbow Sonic. Knowing he had to take out the rest of the Egg Fighters in a short amount of time, Sonic resorted to using the Light Speed Attack, power with the Rainbow Star abilities. He charged up a Rainbow Spin-Dash until orbs of rainbow light surrounded him.

Swiftly, Sonic initiated a Rainbow Light Speed Attack on the group of Egg Fighters. He bombarded the robots in a chain of rapid Homing Attacks. All this was accomplished in less than a second.

"Whoa, that was fast!" Donkey Kong exclaimed. "I barely saw what just happened! All I did see was a flash of rainbow flying through the air!"

"Marvelous feat, Sonic," Blaze congratulated him. "But there's no time for us to rejoice in the ambiance. We must hurry before the whole cave collapses from the bomb."

The heroes agreed. They rushed out of the cave the same way they came in. They were only a few feet away from the cave opening when they heard the bomb go off. A loud bang emitted through the cavern, destroying the pagoda tower inside. Everything behind them collapsed. The heroes had just made it out before the cavern caved in.

"Is everyone alright?" Sonic said, looking over to the others. Everyone else nodded. They all took a moment on the mountain cliff to catch their breath. They were caught off guard by the whole bomb fiasco, but now they seemed to be okay.

"I didn't expect emerald hunting to be this dangerous." Donkey Kong said as he lied on the ground. His stomach suddenly began to growl. He could go for a quick snack right about now. Did Chun-Nan grow bananas?

"Now that we have the Chaos Emerald, we should head back to the village, meet the others." Blaze told them.

"But what about Mario and Luigi?" Tails reminded them. The two had wandered off somewhere in the mountain range to who knows where.

"Don't worry about them, I'm sure they can take care of themselves. They are the Mario Bros. after all." Sonic assured them. He looked out to the cliff, seeing the Great Wall across them. He hoped that Mario snapped some sense into Luigi sooner or later.

_Just what did you to him, Metal?_

* * *

_**Chun-Nan, Phoenix Mountains**_

Mario had chased down Luigi for quite some time. The brothers had jumped away from the Great Wall and were now high in the mountain range. They had reached such high of an altitude that they found themselves jumping through the clouds.

The landscape around them was unique, as they were surrounded by huge floating mountain islands. The islands were big, and were covered with rich vegetation and vines all around them. Waterfalls fell from the islands and into the land below. All this was achieved by the sacred power of the Chun-Nan Phoenix.

The brothers didn't know they were in it's territory.

"Luigi! Please, listen to me!" Mario called out to his brother. The two were jumping from island to island. Luigi showed no signs of stopping. He didn't want to talk to his supposed brother. He just couldn't.

_I promised Metal Sonic I'd help him find the Chaos Emeralds._ Luigi thought to himself. _How could I betray him if I join with...my brother. _

Luigi jumped onto a smaller floating island. He grabbed onto it's side and began to scale it by using the vines that hung off. Mario followed him, all while trying to convince him that he was his brother.

"Why can't you believe me, Luigi?" Mario pleaded to him. "I am your brother! You know it! You're just blinded by Metal Sonic's lies! Just give me a chance to talk to you!"

"No!" Luigi shouted down to him. "You're the one telling lies...I just know it!" Luigi had reached the top of the side of the island and climbed on. The island he was on had a lake in the middle. Miniature mountains were on the other side of the island. He looked around to where he could go, but the other floating islands were just too far for him to jump.

"I know you Luigi," Mario calmly spoke to him as he climbed up the side. "I'm-a your brother. We have this strong connection between each other. If you just let it connect, you'll realize the truth. All you have to do is believe."

"No...shut up...stop trying to trick me." Luigi said to him in a distressed tone. All of this was too much for him to handle. He slowly stepped back and began to run towards the mountains on the other side of the mountain.

Mario chased after him. They circled around the lake and reached the base of the mountains. Luigi jumped up the mountains and scaled it. He reached the top of the mountain and looked around, finding no where else to jump to.

"Luigi, you need to stop running away from all your problems." Mario told him. "I know you always do this. You run away because you're afraid. All you do is follow and if you're feel like you're out of options, you run away, hoping the problem resolves itself."

Luigi gave him a surprised look. How did he know so much about him? It surprised him to the extent of frightening him. He began to think. Was it true? Was Mario really his brother? Did Metal Sonic lie to him all this time?"

"This can't be true...but how...?" Luigi said. He was so overwhelmed that he lost his footing on the mountain. He slipped and fell down the mountain side, opposite of the island. He screamed as he fell off the island and to the

"Nooooo!" Mario shouted. He jumped down and chased after Luigi. Mario dived down after him. Luigi flailed through the air, helpless. It seemed like the two were doomed to land into the sharp, mountains below. As they fell through the clouds, a miracle happened.

A huge. magnificent creature flew through the clouds and caught both brothers. Mario and Luigi had no idea what just happened. They inspected the creature, seeing it resembled a phoenix, but with some peacock traits. It had a long, slender neck, beautiful multi-colored glowing plumage, a golden torso, neck and tail, violet wings with a golden edge and a beak.

"What is this creature?" Luigi asked.

"This must be the Phoenix." Mario answered him. He remembered about the tale the small boy back in the village told to the heroes. This was the day of the Meat Bun Festival. The Phoenix must've been on it's way when it caught Mario and Luigi.

The Phoenix roared as it soared through the clouds, passing through the mountain range. A few minutes later, it landed near the area where the heroes had landed the Star Fighter. Mario and Luigi climbed off the Phoenix as it rested there.

"Th-thank you." Luigi said to the Phoenix. He was able to pet it on the beak. The Phoenix roared loudly again and flew back into the air, flying down to the village where the Meat Bun Festival was now happening.

"You know, a boy told me the Phoenix only appears to people who have pure hearts and helped people achieve good fortune." Mario explained to Luigi. "It may have sensed the both of us and saved us. Think to yourself Luigi, we both have good in our hearts. It's just that you are confused about yourself."

Luigi remained silent. His supposed brother was making sense. But, how was his actions with Metal Sonic good? He felt guilty for what he had to do to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds for the robot.

"You...you may be right." Luigi finally spoke. "Maybe I was confused at first. And I only did listen to Metal Sonic because I had no where else to go. I wanted to figure out about myself, and I felt that the robot was able to help me. I was wrong. _You_ helped me...bro."

Mario smiled to him. Luigi slowly walked up to him and held his hand. The two shook hands with each other, symbolizing their reunion and Luigi's acceptance to him.

Even though Luigi knew who he finally was, he still had some questions. Why did Metal Sonic trick him? He wanted to know so badly.

"Come on, bro, we should head back to the others." Mario told him. "They'll be glad to see you again."

"No...not yet." Luigi said to him, shaking his head. "I still have so many questions. And I think only Metal Sonic can answer them. I...I need to go back for the truth."

"You don't have to, Luigi." Mario explained to him. "We can help you remember things."

"But Mario, you said to me that I run away from problems because I'm scared. I don't want to run anymore. I want to face them and get answers. I need closure. And the only one who can do this at the moment is Metal Sonic. Who knows, maybe it will help even the both of us."

Suddenly, Luigi took out the Red, Blue and Purple Chaos Emeralds and handed them to his brother. "Take these. It's the least I can do for now. I'm just so sorry for what I did to you guys."

Mario nodded to him. He wished his brother good luck. "Just make sure you come back safely."

"I promise. Besides, I am your brother, after all." Luigi said. He waved to his brother and jumped away from the area, running through the mountain range.

_I will get answers from Metal Sonic. And when I do, I'll make sure he pays for what he did to me._

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Luigi has regained his memory back! What unfinished business does he have with Metal Sonic? And the heroes now have four Chaos Emeralds in their possession! Only three more to go! Tune in next week to see what happens in Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: Luigi, Luigi, Luigi. I bet a lot of us missed him. And now that he's back...he's gone? Seems confusing, right? That's what stories do to you: they leave you to wonder what will happen next. Don't worry, you guys will find out soon after.**

**I like how this chapter went out. There's lots of action that's happened. The fight scene that happens in the pagoda cavern is what I like best about this chapter. I feel like it's fluid and it leaves no empty, boring spaces to fill in the lines. **

**I tried making the confrontation between Mario and Luigi meaningful. I mean, how would you feel if you realized you're whole life was a lie? You'd feel angry, saddened and confused about yourself, which is what Luigi shows here. **

**Near the end, Luigi is seen to have evolved from his cowardice, weak-minded self into a more brave, leader-like role after Mario helps him remember his memory. This will be put to the test when he faces Metal Sonic. ;)**

**The Phoenix that appears is the same creature from Sonic Unleashed. Phoenix Mountains is based off the actual mountains in the real world China, plus the floating mountain scenery shown in that James Cameron movie, "Avatar". (I've never really watched the movie, by the way. I was just amazed at it's environment that I wanted to use it in this chapter)**

**Thanks for reading this chapter and for all the support you guys have given me. It means alot! Make sure you come back next week. Reviews are appreciated. Bye for now! :D**

* * *

_**-Azurixx**_

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	67. Knight in Shining Armour!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 67: Knight in Shining Armour!_**

* * *

**_Chun-Nan, Dragon Village_**

It was night time across Chun-Nan. Surprisingly, the usual overcast that covered the region was gone, allowing the starry night sky to be seen. Everyone in Dragon Village was celebrating the Meat Bun Festival. Fireworks were fired in the air, blasting out colorful lights. A band was playing cheerful, upbeat music while everyone was having the time of their lives, eating meat buns and dancing around.

"Mmm! This food is amazing!" Donkey Kong exclaimed as he was gobbling down a basket of meat buns. He was in the restaurant, along with Yoshi and Knuckles. They all wore red, silk robes with a golden phoenix design on it.

"See? I told you the food here was delicious!" Yoshi said, slirping up a bowl of noodles. He had just finished a 10-course buffet and it was still not enough to fill his belly. "Hey, Knuckles, mind if you pass the plate of egg rolls?"

"What?" Knuckles asked, turning back to him. His mouth was stuffed with egg rolls. In his hand was an empty plate that held all the egg rolls. Knuckles swallowed his food. "Uhm...there are no more egg rolls."

"You...have got...to be kidding me." Yoshi spoke. He suddenly pulled a tantrum. "I can't believe you Knuckles! Those were my favorite egg rolls!" He took the nearest chopsticks he could find and began chasing Knuckles around the restaurant.

"Gah! Hold your horses, Yoshi!" Knuckles yelled, trying to calm down the dinosaur. "I'm sure there's a lot more food that you can try! Hey! What about the fried rice?"

"Sorry, but they're all out of that!" Donkey Kong told them as he continued eating at his heart's content. "I'm sure they'll make a lot more! I mean, they did say it's an all-you-can-eat buffet, am I right?"

Meanwhile, Tails and Cream were outside playing with the children. Blaze was watching them on top of the rooftop, admiring the festival going on below. The Phoenix was with them and was giving them all joy rides around the village, flying up and down and all around. The parent's weren't too fond of the idea, but hey, it was a time of celebration and joy. Who could stop them?

"This ice cream is pretty good." Amy said. She and Sonic were strolling through the village, each having a cup of Longan ice cream in their hand. "I've never tried this flavour before, but I'm glad I did! It's so unique to the others that I've had."

"Well, Chun-Nan is all about the culture." Sonic replied, scooping a bite from his ice cream. "But I have to admit, all the continents never cease to surprise me. They always have something cool in store."

Mario was all alone, sitting at the edge of the bridge near the edge of the village. He looked down into the water below him, seeing his reflection. A leaf landed on his reflection, making the water ripple and turning Mario's face into Luigi's image.

"Be careful, bro." Mario spoke to himself. He was glad that he found his brother and was able to help him regain his memory in such a short amount of time. Determination for the ones you loved really helped.

And now, with four Chaos Emeralds in possession, he was able to help another one he really cared about: Princess Peach.

"What are you doing here, all alone." Sonic spoke, catching the plumber off guard. He stood beside him, seeing his sad expression. "Hey, what's wrong? What's with the long face?"

"I'm still thinking about Luigi." Mario told him. He had told the rest of the heroes what happened between the two of them before the Meat Bun Festival started. Sonic understood what Mario was going through.

"Come on, buddy, cheer up. I'm sure once Luigi has dealt with Metal Sonic, he'll be back sooner than you know it." Sonic said, trying to cheer Mario up. "And look on the bright side. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have four Chaos Emeralds already! That's more than enough to help Peach."

Mario smiled. Sonic's bright attitude and encouraging words never failed to make anyone feel better. Sonic patted Mario on the shoulder, telling him he shouldn't dawdle all night. He should take advantage and have fun with the others during the festival.

Tomorrow, they would travel back to Apotos and wake someone from their long-lasting nap.

* * *

_**Apotos, Outside Flower Clinic**_

It was a bright and sunny day in Apotos. The ocean waves flowed calmly around the various islands. Birds were flying overhead the houses. The heroes were walking through the sidewalks, heading towards Flower Clinic. They kept the Chaos Emeralds safely in their possession.

"I'm very intrugued to see what your princess looks like." Blaze said, speaking to Mario. She had never seen another princess before. It was exciting to finally meet someone of true royalty as herself.

"She's kind of pretty, right Mario?" Yoshi said, nudging the plumber with his elbow. Mario smiled like a fool, thinking about Peach and how beautiful she looked to him. He was so distracted in thought that he tripped over an empty flower basket left on the sidewalk.

"Nice one." Knuckles chuckled. Amy quickly slapped him on the forehead, causing him to howl in pain.

The heroes continued their way, finally arriving in front of Flower Clinic. It looked the same as the way they left it. The heroes began climbing up the steps when suddenly a loud scream was heard across town.

"What could that be all about?" Cream asked. The heroes waited for another scream. Sure enough, they got one. Suddenly, a small crowd began to head in their direction. They seemed to be running away from something.

"Hey, hold up!" Sonic called out, trying to get their attention. Instead, the crowd simply passed them, still running away terrified. "I just wanna ask a question! Sheesh."

"Little boy!" Donkey Kong said, seeing a boy in a red striped shirt running in their direction. He was also fleeing from whatever everyone else was running away from. "What's upsetting your banana? Why is everyone running away?"

"There are robots attacking!" the boy responded, pointing in the opposite direction. Out of nowhere, an Egg Fighter appeared on top of a building, followed by two more. Unlike the regular Egg Fighters, these were painted an orange-reddish color.

"Great...it's these guys again." Tails said in an annoyed voice. He looked to the others, who all prepared to fight the attacking Egg Fighters.

"You guys want more? Hah! It's like you're asking for a world of pain!" Donkey Kong taunted them. He beat his chest and jumped towards them. Surprisingly, the Egg Fighters aimed their robotic arms at him and they transformed into cannons. The cannons shot out laser blasts at him, knocking him down into the ground.

"These guys have some new toys this time around." Sonic said with a smirk. "This won't take too long. Tails, Knuckles, we should be able to handle this one ourselves!"

"You got it!" Knuckles exclaimed, cracking his fists. "I can't wait to turn these heaps of metal into junk!" He jumped towards one of them, expecting them to shoot it's lasers. Of course, it did, but Knuckles was ready and dodged them with ease. He landed on the robot on the rooftop and began punching it down to scrap.

"Tails! Let's rock!" Sonic exclaimed. He jumped into the air, grabbing onto Tails' hands. He flew up and began to spin the hedgehog around. Once he reached a certain speed, he threw Sonic towards the remaining Egg Fighters. Sonic turned into his Spin-Dash form and knocked down both Egg Fighters like bowling pins.

"Hey! Nice job!" Donkey Kong said. He began clapping when suddenly another group of Egg Fighters appeared from the sky, surrounding him, Yoshi and Mario. The three looked at each other, nodded, and began attacking.

"Take this, you piece of metal!" Yoshi shouted, jumping above an Egg Fighter's head and initating a rapid succession of Flutters Kicks at it, damaging the robot and knocking it back. He turned around a shot his tongue at another Egg Fighter. He swallowed it whole and spit it back out, causing it to land in a nearby pot of flowers.

"Bleck! You guys taste awful!" Yoshi said disgustingly as he wiped down his tongue.

"You think because you have lasers you're all that? True power comes from the fists!" Donkey Kong said as he threw a strong punch at the Egg Fighter, causing it to fly across the sidewalk, hitting against a building and falling down, broken.

"Watch out, DK!" Mario shouted. An Egg Fighter was behind the ape, and was about to shoot him. However, Mario jumped on top of it's head, did a quick flip in the air and shot himself back down, doing a Ground Pound. The robot's head was crushed, causing it to lose it's sight. It ran around aimlessly until it bumped into a wall, falling down defeated.

"Hmph! Eggman needs to make more stronger robots." Amy told Cream. The rabbit nodded, agreeing with her. To them, the Egg Fighters fought like toddlers, always getting knocked down by their clumsiness.

They learned they would eat their words soon after. Unexpectedly, two more Egg Fighters snuck behind them and grabbed each one of them for themselves. Amy and Cream yelped for help as they tried to escape from their clutches.

"Let them go or else!' Blaze demanded. The Egg Fighters taunted her and quickly ran off with Amy and Cream. The others were too busy with the other robots, so Blaze had to take care of this problem herself.

Blaze ran after the fleeing robots. She easily caught up with them. She snuck up behind the Egg Fighter with Cream and threw a strong backflip kick, powered by her flames. It knocked the robot up in the air, igniting it in flames. It let go of Cream and Cheese in the air.

"I'm okay!" Cream said as she began to flap her ears to fly herself in the air. Cheese did the same, only with his wings. The two flew back down and hugged Blaze. "Thank you for saving us!"

"I promised your mother I'd protect you through this journey." Blaze reminded her. The two smiled to each other. Blaze began looking around for the Egg Fighter with Amy. She growled in anger, realizing they lost them.

"You better let me go! You'd hate it see me angry!" Amy scowled at the Egg Fighter. The robot ignored her as she continued struggling out of it's grasp. The two had reached the outer edge of the town, on the sidewalks that faced the ocean.

"I really do advise you to let her go," a voice spoke out. The Egg Fighter turned to see Sonic standing on top of a rooftop with his arms crossed. He shook his head. "Really, just let her go right now. She isn't joking about the angry part. Believe me, I've experianced it."

"Sonic! You're here to save me!" Amy exclaimed, delighted to see him. She looked up to the Egg Fighter, giving it a smirk. "You've done it now. Just wait until Sonic shreds you into pieces."

The Egg Fighter ignored both their snarky comments. Instead, it aimed it's free arm towards Sonic and shot a laser blast at him. The hedgehog dodged the attack with ease. He shot himself at the Egg Fighter and landed a Homing Attack on it. The Egg Fighter was knocked back so far it flipped over the guard railing, falling into the ocean below. Unfortunetly, so did Amy.

"Soooniiicc!" Amy screamed as she began to tumbled down into the water below. She suddenly realized her descent was stopped when an arm grabbed hers. She looked up to see that Sonic had jumped over the guard rail and caught her. He hung onto the railing to keep them from falling.

"Don't worry! I've got you!" Sonic assured her, smiling to her. "Now hold on while I pull us up."

"What in the world is going on here?" another voice spoke from above. Looking down to them was the town's Ice Cream Vendor. He held his hands to his head and shook it in confusion. "First I hear robots are attacking the town, now I see you two dangling off the edge. Has the world gone mad?"

"Uhm, excuse me, but mind pulling us up?" Sonic asked. The Ice Cream Vendor bent down and grabbed onto his hand, pulling the two back onto safe ground. The two thanked him.

"Before you go, would you like to buy some ice cream.?" The Ice Cream Vendor asked. The two looked at each other and shrugged.

"I guess so. By the way, do you have any in Longan flavor?"

Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes were back at Flower Clinic. They waited for Sonic and Amy to come back, but Mario became impatient. He told the others they should revive Peach right away. The others didn't argue and they all went inside.

"Why, hello there my friends." Gregorios, owner of the Flower Clinic, greeted them. He recognized Mario immediately. "Ah! You are the plumber I met a few days ago. How have you been?"

"Fantastic," Mario replied. "hurry, you must lead me to Princess Peach's room. We have what we need to cure her from her coma." They explained about the Chaos Emeralds. Gregorios agreed and wasted no time to get them to Peach's room.

Inside, Peach was resting soundly in her bed. The light from the window shone on her body, giving off a sort of elegant feeling to her. The heroes rushed to her side.

"She is pretty. No, beautiful, to be exact." Blaze said, amazed to see Peach. She felt bad for her, knowing she was suffering from a huge coma. But that's why they were there. To revive her from it.

"Here you go," Tails said, handing Mario the Red Chaos Emerald. He took out the Blue Chaos Emerald. The two stood at opposite ends of the bed. "Okay, if I remember from last time, all we've got to do is simply think about reviving Peach. The Chaos Emeralds will turn our thoughts into the power needed to revive her.

Mario nodded. He looked back to the comatose Peach, determined to awake her. Mario and Tails held the Chaos Emeralds above Peach's body. They closed their eyes and thought as hard as they could to revive Peach. Suddenly, shimmering balls of light appeared out of the Chaos Emeralds. They began to circle around Peach's body. Afterwards, they flashed into her body. The group stared down at her, wondering if it worked.

Minutes passed by. All of a sudden...

"Ooh..." Peach silently moaned. She slowly moved her head around and opened her eyes. She looked around the room, seeing everyone staring back at her. "Where...where am I?"

"Princess!" Mario exclaimed. He dropped his Chaos Emerald onto her bed and began to hug her. He was so happy to see Peach okay. "Mamamia! I'm so glad you're awake!" Peach was a bit confused to Mario's sudden reaction, but was happy to see him.

"The princess is saved!" Yoshi exclaimed in joy. He hopped in the air and began to do a flutter jump. Donkey Kong roared in victory and began to beat his chest.

"Hi, princess." Tails said, waving to her. "You probably have no idea what just happened, but that's okay, because you were in a coma!" Peach gave a surprised look and asked how she got into a coma in the first place.

Mario began explaining to her what had been happening the past few days. How Mario and his friends were transported into Sonic's world by Junior. How everyone was split up. How the Chaos Emeralds, the Jeweled Sceptor and the Master Emerald were lost.

"Oh my, this is a lot to process." Peach said, overwhelmed. She suddenly smiled to Mario. "But I am so grateful for you're efforts, Mario. If it wasn't for you, I would most likely be stuck in a coma forever. You truly are my knight in shining armor." She sat up and gave a small kiss on Mario's nose. The plumber suddenly began to blush and felt dazed.

"Yup...and at the end of the day, Mario gets the girl." Knuckles sighed. He crossed his arms and began to think. "Gee, when is it gonna be my turn?"

"Keep dreaming, boy." Donkey Kong said, patting Knuckles on the shoulder.

"Hello there, Princess Peach." Cream said. She introduced her, Cheese and Blaze. "We're so glad to finally meet you. We're friends of Sonic. We've heard many wonderful things about you from Mario."

"It's an honour to meet you, madam." Blaze said, giving a small bow to Peach. "It feels good to finally meet another one of royalty."

"It's always a pleasure to meet more of Sonic's friends." Peach said, smiling to them. "And you both seem very polite. That pleases me to see that." Cream and Blaze thanked her.

"Surprise!" the door to the room suddenly swung open and in came Sonic and Amy, holding Sundae Supremes for everybody. "Just thought that we'd get a small treat to celebrate the special occasion." Sonic and Amy began to hand everyone a cone.

"Oh boy! And great timing too! I was getting really hungry right now!" Yoshi exclaimed. He quickly popped his tongue out and grabbed a cone from Sonic's hand, swallowing it whole. "Mmm! Is that chocolate-dipped bananas I taste?"

"Peach! It's so great to see you okay!" Amy siad in joy. She hugged her and handed her cone. "I hope you're hungry. I'm assuming you would be after being asleep for so long."

"Thank you Amy. It's so great to see you again." Peach said. "In fact, it's so great to see all of you again, my dear friends. I can not show how thankful I am for all the trouble you've gone through, just to help me. Again, thank you."

"We need to celebrate!" Knuckles suddenly spoke. Tails reminded him they needed to collect more of the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles began to insist. "Come on, I mean, we already have four Chaos Emeralds. We're ahead of schedule. Why don't we take the time to relax for a bit?"

"I'm actually liking your idea, Knux." Sonic said, taking out a Pocky from his sundae and taking a bite out of it. "What do you have in mind?"

"I have an idea." Yoshi spoke. "While I was watching TV the other day, I saw an ad about a new amusement park that recently opened. It's called Carnival Park. There is a whole variety of games, rides and a big casino there!"

"That sounds fun! Especially the rides." Cream exclaimed. She turned to Blaze. "Can we please go there? Pretty please?"

"If it's alright with the others, I'm okay with it." Blaze said. The others seemed as enthusiastic about the idea as well. Finally, after devoting much effort in their adventure, they've reached the time where they deserved a small break. Even heroes needed a rest.

The group decided to stay in Apotos for awhile, to let Peach gain more rest. Mario stayed by her side for the whole day, while everyone else explored Apotos.

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Sonic asked Mario. The plumber assured him it was fine. He wanted to be beside Peach to make sure she was absolutely okay from her coma.

"Don't worry about me, you guys go out and enjoy yourselves for now. We'll meet you guys later." Mario explained. The two said goodbye and went off their seperate ways. For some reason, Sonic's curiousity got the best of him and he peeked back into the room.

Mario was sitting at the side of Peach's bed. He handed her the crown she had lost when she fell into Sonic's world. Mario had held the crown all this time as a reminder of what his goal was. Peach thanked him and gave him another kiss on the cheek. She asked him if he could tell her all the adventures he had been through ever since they were in Sonic's world. Mario happily explained what had been going on. The two enjoyed one another's company.

_They really seem happy with each other._ Sonic thought to himself. He cracked a small grin, then a thought suddenly came to him. All through his life, he had experienced many kinds of happiness, whether it would be running around, going on adventures, or simply snacking on chilidogs. But he had never experienced the kind of happiness when he was with someone he truly cared about.

_I wonder how that feels to be with someone...you love._ Sonic thought again. He quickly shook the thought out of his head._ What the heck? Why am I thinking of this? I'm Sonic the Hedgehog! I don't need anyone pinning me down like that!_

"Sonic?" a voice interrupted him. Sonic looked up to see Amy standing in front of him. She had a puzzled look on her face. "What's the matter Sonic? You look so...confused."

"Oh...uhm...nothing Ames." Sonic lied to her. He faked a grin. "Come on...we should really catch up with the others."

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Princess Peach is revived! All seems well for the heroes at this point. Except for Sonic. Is he beginning to realize something he wasn't sure about before? No matter, it seems the heroes next stop is the festive Carnival Park! How will things be when they arrive there? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: With the return of Princess Peach, you can be sure she'll tag along with the heroes in their next adventures. Speaking of adventures, their next one seems to be a casino-like park. Hey, don't we know someone who's attracted to places with lots of money? ;)**

******Yes, Longan really is an ice cream flavor. It's this sort of fruit about the size of a grape and is encased in this shell you need to peel in order to eat it. It's really sweet, I've tried it once.**

**A sneak peek of the next chapter. This time it will stray away from the heroes and focus on two of our anti-heroes. You probably know who they are, but what important role will they play? Tune in next week!**

**By the way, I've updated this story with it's own image cover! I really like the idea of how the site came up with this, it adds more life to our stories instead of having just plain old text to represent our fics. I'd like to know what you guys think about the cover. Is it good? Does it need improvement? **

**Thanks for reading this chapter and for supporting me all this time. I wouldn't be here without you guys! Reviews are appreciated! Bye for now! :D**

* * *

**_-Azurixx_**

**_~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~_**


	68. Freeze Frenzy!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 68: Freeze Frenzy!**_

* * *

**_Holoska, Igloo Village_**

Deep in the northern hemisphere of the planet was the continent of Holoska, a large, icy tundra. Huge glaciers formed in the area, icebergs floated around the cold waters and every inch of the area was covered in a blanket of snow. Icicle caverns and dangerous trenches presented many dangers to the people who inhabited the area. Wildlife, such as polar bears, whales and penguins could be found in Holoska.

Somewhere in a reclusive area surrounded by glaciers was a small village. It was made up of many igloos made up of snow blocks. A big bonfire was located in the middle of the village, used to provide heat for the population. Most of the inhabitants wore bulky fur-covered coats, boots and mittens.

Not the most stylish kind of clothing, but hey, it kept them warm in the inevitable freezing temperatures.

"Yeesh! Is it just me or is it really cold out here?" Rouge complained, shaking from the temperature. She was crouching near the edge of the bonfire, which was lit up due to it being nighttime, and at these times the weather was extremely cold.

"It's you." Shadow answered. He stood a few feet next to her, not appearing to be bother by the cold. He began to criticize her. "You most likely wouldn't be freezing in this cold if you weren't wearing such light clothing. Just be lucky you always wear those boots of yours. It's probably the only thing keeping you from getting frostbite."

"Why don't I see you complaining?" Rouge asked him. Shadow answered, saying he was the ultimate life form, and absolutely nothing could bother him, let alone low temperatures. Rouge rolled her eyes at him and continued to warm herself up.

Shortly after their confrontation with Sonic and Mario back at Neo Prison Island, the government had alerted them of strange activity that suddenly occurred inside Holoska. Out of the blue, a huge energy surge popped out on their radars. Curious, the government sent both Shadow and Rouge to find what was creating these energy waves.

"You have any clue on what could be causing these sudden energy waves?" Rouge asked Shadow. He shook his head. This kind of energy he felt was not familiar to him, which raised his curiousity and determination to find out what it was.

"There's a reason why we came to this village," Shadow told her. Suddenly, he walked up to the doorway of an igloo and kicked down the door. Peeking his head inside, he found a short, elderly woman defrosting meat over a small fire.

"You! Have you seen any suspicious activity going on around here? Stop staring at me you old wretch and answer me!"

"Shadow! What's wrong with you?" Rouge yelled out to him. "You can't just barge into people's homes and start asking them random questions! Have some dignity with yourself!"

"Hmph! Like you're accomplishing anything." Shadow answered back. "All you're doing is huddling by that bonfire like a demented animal. As if I am losing my dignity." His attitude caused Rouge to heat up with anger. She began to head towards him, ready to cause some trouble.

"Calm down you two." The elderly woman said to them. She walked out of her igloo and stood between the two. "Bickering will get the two of you no where to your goal. On the other hand, I may have some information that might have some use for you."

"Then stop throwing these words at us and tell us what you know." Shadow growled at her, impatient. The elder stared back at him with a peeved expression.

"You are very persistent, which is a good thing, but it can also be considered a negative trait." The elder lectured him. "You need to learn to be patient with yourself, or else you may harm one self or the ones you care about. And it wouldn't hurt to a bit nice, hot-head."

"Whatever..." Shadow grumbled to himself. He crossed his arms and looked away from the elder. He wasn't going to let an old lady stop him from doing what he did.

"Please, excuse my friend over there. He can be a little...sensitive, sometimes." Rouge explained to the elder. "Now, you said you had some juicy details that may interest us. Care to share?"

"The night before, a strange light appeared in the sky." The elder began. She closed her eyes, visualizing the event. "It was not something the village had seen before. It was much grander than the auroras we usually see. The light sparkled in the stars, flashing many eccentric colors. It then shot down towards the land."

The elder pointed in the direction of where the light landed. It was further north of their current location, deep within the snowy glaciers.

"Thanks for the tip." Rouge thanked her. The elder wished them good luck in their journey. Rouge dragged Shadow with her out of the village, heading towards their destination.

"I hate that old lady," Shadow expressed with anger. The two were walking through the icy plains. Far in the distance were glaciers and ahead of them was a large body of freezing water.

"Oh please, don't begin whining at me for your behavior." Rouge said, still annoyed with him. "Honestly, sometimes I think you have ice running through those veins of yours. You can be downright cold with someone. Believe me."

"Don't enlighten me with your bad puns." Shadow said. It was obvious to him with the environment they were in.

"Why so serious? Have a sense of humor. Or are you too manly enough for jokes?" Rouge teased him. Shadow raised a brow at her.

"You should be taking things a little more seriously from now on." Shadow told her. "Do you know what danger we might be? This could be world threatening as we know it. I suggest you put all this funny business aside. You should know better than that."

"If I knew better?" Rouge restated. She took it as an insult. "Look at you, big boy. As much as I admire your seriousness for things, I cannot say the same thing for your blunt attitude. I mean, screaming at old ladies? Really?" Shadow ignored her. "By the way, I thought you were the ultimate life form. Why are you so worried about this energy we are trying to find?"

"You still don't understand, do you?" Shadow said. He stopped them in their tracks. "Do you remember our conversation with Sonic and his little friends back at base? They told us Metal Sonic is plotting to use the Chaos Emeralds to open up this sort of gateway to the Negative Dimension. I have a feeling this energy we're searching for is connected to this."

"So, you think whatever is creating these energy waves out here could be another Chaos Emerald, and that Metal Sonic could be looking for them right now?" Rouge asked, making sure she understood.

"You're partly correct," Shadow answered. "Except for the Chaos Emerald. These energy I'm sensing isn't familiar to me. I doubt whatever is sending off this energy is an emerald. I believe it's something stronger than that."

"This does sound serious." Rouge said. She could clearly see the stern look on Shadow's face. Then again, when did Shadow never look serious? But Rouge could never doubt him, as he always seemed to be right with his assumptions.

The two continued their way towards the location of the energy, not speaking a single word. They soon came across the open waters. Glaciers floated across the deep blue water. No matter how soothing it looked, there was no doubt within seconds of jumping in you'd freeze into an icicle. On the other side, was a mountain of glaciers. Somewhere the energy was hiding inside.

"This should be a piece of cake." Shadow said, taking out his Chaos Emerald. Rouge noticed what he just said and told him Sonic always used that as his catchphrase. "...it's cooler when I say it."

"And I thought we were supposed to leave our humor behind us?" Rouge reminded him. Shadow simply nodded and suddenly he disappeared in a flash of Chaos Control. He appeared on the other side of the water. Rouge followed by gliding over the freezing water with the assistance of her bat wings.

The two headed towards the base of the glacier mountains. Rouge spotted an opening in the mountains. They walked inside, finding themselves in an cavern full of ice.

"Be careful not to slip." Shadow said. This was easy for him since he could use his air shoes to skate across the ice. The same couldn't be said for Rouge as her boots would skid easily on the ice, making her fall all the time.

"Mind if I hold onto you so I don't slip?" Rouge asked, only to find Shadow already skating his way through the icy cavern. Rouge sighed. "What happened to men's courtesy to woman these days? It all just seemed to disappear."

Rouge struggled to keep up with Shadow. Every few feet, she'd end up slipping on the ice. Tired of this, she decided to fly through the rest of the cavern. She had wings after all, why not use them?

The icy cavern was surprisingly long and had some very sharp turns to it. Large icicles hung from the ceiling and would occasionally fall right after someone passed them. The cave seemed to go on forever until the two reached a dead end. It wasn't just a normal dead end though. The dead end was in a larger area of the cavern. The cavern walls were covered with sparkling, colorful ice which consisted of red, blue, green and yellow.

Rouge sort of hoped the colors were natural, because if they weren't she wouldn't want to know what made the ice yellow...

"There doesn't appear to be anything valuable in this room." Rouge said, disinterested. "Not even any jewels. What a disappointment. Can we leave now?" She turned to Shadow, who seemed to have an eye on something at the end of the room. Rouge went up to him and couldn't believe what she saw.

Wedge within the the icy wall, was some sort of scepter. It had a black handle and the top of it was in a "C" shape. The top was colored purple and had many colorful jewels encrusted into it. Rouge slowly walked up to and began reaching for it.

"Don't touch it!" Shadow warned her. Rouge quickly thrusted her hand back. She asked him what the object was. "I have no clue, but it possesses extremely powerful energy. Who knows what might happen if it's activated."

"So what are we going to do, just leave it here?" Rouge asked. Before Shadow could answer her, he was disrupted by a voice behind them.

"I suggest you do leave it there, so that I may take it for myself." the voice spoke out. The two turned back and were surprised to see a familiar robot floating behind them. His eyes glowed menacingly at them. "We meet again."

"Yes, it appears we do." Shadow calmly spoke. "And what seems so important that you must be here, Metal Sonic?"

"I ask the very same question to you two. But really, isn't it quite obvious? We're both here for what's stuck inside that frozen wall behind you." Metal Sonic began to float slowly towards them. The two braced themselves, in case Metal Sonic shot a surprise attack at them.

"Answer me this, is it true that you that it was you who caused Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds to disappear for the last few weeks?" Shadow barked at the robot. Metal Sonic nodded. "And is it true, you're planning to use them to open up a portal to a dimension that holds limitless energy?"

"Do you like my plan? It took me a long time to research all this. I'll say, not even looking through the library helped me." Metal Sonic bragged. "Once I found out how much power all these artifacts were capable of, I was intrigued to use them to possess much greater power."

"Explain to me, what about this other world I've been hearing about. The one they call the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"Ah yes, what an interesting world that was to me." Metal Sonic said. He floated back onto the ground, keeping his eye on the Jeweled Scepter in the ice. "You see, after I mastered traveling through time with the artifact, I found a few manuscripts from the future that foretold the ability to travel through space. I used it's knowledge to follow through my plan to open the Negative Dimension. Simply having the emeralds wouldn't work, as I needed people with extraordinary powers to help me."

"It seems like Sonic's new buddies really do possess some powers we've never seen before. I feel kind of bad for doubting them." Rouge whispered to Shadow. He also felt the same way. All this time he regarded them as nothing but trash and a waste of his time. He should've thought otherwise.

"Now if you allow me, I'll take what I had lost." Metal Sonic said. Suddenly, he was covered in sparks of yellow electricity. He quickly floated above the two and shot down a blast of electricity below. Shadow and Rouge jumped out of the way, avoiding the attack.

"Humph! Is that all?" Shadow shouted. He shot a barrage of Chaos Spears at Metal Sonic, but the robot swiftly dodged them. Shadow rushed and jumped up to the robot and began throwing a fury of punches at him, finishing with a downward kick, sending Metal Sonic crashing into the ground.

"I won't allow you to impede in my plans!" Metal Sonic said angrily. He quickly shot a laser beam from his chest cannon, knocking Shadow into the ice wall, cracking part of it on impact. Metal Sonic turned to the Jeweled Scepter in the ice. Grabbing onto the handle, he easily pulled it out of the ice, breaking the surrounding ice as well.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to let you do that." Rouge said as she snuck behind the robot and threw a spinning kick at his head, knocking him onto the ground and causing him to let go of the Jeweled Scepter. It slid across the ice, onto the other side of the cavern. Rouge slid across the ice and grabbed it.

"Give that back! It doesn't belong to you!" Metal Sonic warned her. He prepared to shoot another laser beam at her when he was interrupted by Shadow grabbing and throwing him into the ground. He turned to Rouge.

"Get out of here! Don't let him get the scepter!"

Rouge didn't complain. Holding tightly onto the Jeweled Scepter, she jumped into the air and dove back down, spinning with her feet together. She began drilling herself through the ground and out of the ice cavern.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into." Metal Sonic told Shadow as he got back onto his feet. "You dare interfere with my plans? I'll make sure once I possess the power I need, I'll come back and destroy you into oblivion."

"That's a laughable theory. There is no way I'll ever let you gain that sort of power. Even if you were to come across such a thing, it wouldn't be enough to stop me." Shadow taunted him. The two charged at each other and threw a punch at the same time, causing their fists to meet. They struggled to out power one another.

"Let us make this more interesting." Metal Sonic said. He began to power a red energy orb within his chest cannon. Shadow realized what he was implying and began to charge a large amount of energy inside him.

The moment they released their fists, they both released a powerful surge of Chaos Blasts, shaking the whole entire glacier.

Meanwhile, Rouge had dug her way out of the caverns and found herself by the open body of freezing water. She took the moment to inspect the Jeweled Scepter.

"My my, you sure have some precious jewels on you." Rouge said as she eyed the jewels on top of the scepter. She grabbed onto one of them and tried to remove it, but it wouldn't budge. "I guess you beauties will look just as good on the scepter then. Oh well."

Suddenly, she heard a loud explosion behind her. Rouge turned back and saw that the upper half of a glacier began to slide off from where it was. The half tipped over and fell to the ground, causing the ground to rumble. Rouge carefully kept her balance.

"What are those two up to?" Rouge said to herself. "I just hope Shadow is okay." Right after she said that, she saw two figures flying out of the broken glaciers. It was Shadow and Metal Sonic. They both continued to fight each other while in the air.

Shadow threw a punch at Metal Sonic, which missed. Metal Sonic countered the attack by shooting a laser beam at him, knocking Shadow further into the air. While being knocked back, Shadow threw a Chaos Blast at the robot, which landed on him. The two began to fall down. Metal Sonic landed in the glacier wreck below, but Shadow used Chaos Control to avoid the demise. He teleported to where Rouge was. Unfortunately, he teleported too far and landed into the freezing water.

"Shadow!" Rouge yelped for him. She ran to the edge and reached out to him by using the Jeweled Scepter. Shadow grabbed onto the scepter and was pulled back onto the ice. He began to shake from the cold.

"Colder than I expected." Shadow said. He slowly got up, still shaking. "I knew you said I was cold to others, but not until now could I feel that."

"Glad you finally realized that." Rouge joked with him. "We need to get you something to warm you up. Try to teleport us back to the village. The bonfire sounds like a good idea now, does it?"

As Shadow reached for his Chaos Emerald, another loud eruption came from the glaciers. Metal Sonic had flown out of the wreck and began to fly towards the two. Rouge urged Shadow to teleport them quickly, but he could only hesitate from the cold.

Before he could teleport them out of the way, Metal Sonic activated his V. Maximum Overdrive attack and charged towards the two. He knocked them towards the freezing water, but luckily they landed on a floating iceberg. The attack also dealt a large amount of damage to them.

"Boy, that hurt..." Rouge groaned. She tried to get up, but she felt pain on her side whenever she tried. She looked over to Shadow and saw he was injured as well. The Chaos Emerald and Jeweled Scepter luckily laid on the iceberg as well.

"Hmph! Pathetic meat bags! All you do is cause trouble and hindrance to my plans!" Metal Sonic scoffed at them as he slowly hovered above them. He landed on the iceberg, which gently tipped in the water from his weight. "No matter. I have what I came for and that is what matters."

Metal Sonic eyed at both the Chaos Emerald and Jeweled Scepter. He bent down to pick both of them up, each in one hand. Seeing this, Shadow use the last of his energy to stop him. Forming a small Chaos Spear he shot it towards Metal Sonic. The robot dodged it with ease.

"Don't try to amuse me with your futile attempts." Metal Sonic growled. He pointed the Jeweled Scepter against Shadow's forehead. In an instant, he blasted a shadowy spell on him, knocking Shadow unconscious. Rouge yelped for him.

"Darling, if you dare lay a finger on me, I'll make sure I rip you to shreds afterwards." Rouge warned him. Metal Sonic gave a low, demonic laugh. He pointed the Jeweled Scepter at her.

"This will only hurt a bit." In a split second, Rouge's vision shrouded into darkness.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_Oh no! Shadow and Rouge have gotten themselves into a predicament. Not only did they let Metal Sonic grab their Chaos Emerald, but now he has the Jeweled Scepter in his hands! Does this pose a threat to the heroes in the future? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

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**A/N: Sorry if this chapter seems a bit short. I have my exams this coming week and I have been studying as much as I could. Don't worry about me though, I've found a way to balance the two. And besides, it's soon going to be my last week of school. Hooray! Summer vacation couldn't come any faster!**

**Next chapter will resume it's focus on the heroes. The purpose of this chapter is to set up the plot for the next few chapters to come soon. I promise you guys, things are only getting more intense!**

**Thanks for both reading this chapter and supporting me. You guys are great! I appreciate all reviews! Make sure you come back next week. Bye for now! :D**

******-Azurixx**

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**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	69. Heist!

_**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

_**Chapter 69: Heist!**_

* * *

_**Carnival Park, Front Entrance**_

A few miles west from Empire City was a huge, colorful theme park. It was filled with rides, games and a huge casino for those who felt lucky enough to gamble. It was the middle of the night when the heroes arrived. Many lights flickered in the park, brightening up the night. The park itself was filled with many visitors and tourists, all having the time of their lives.

"Whoa! This place is totally amazing!" Yoshi said in bewilderment. He was staring up at the giant neon sign near the entrance. It read, "Welcome to the fabulous Carnival Park, where everyone walks away as a winner!"

"Man! That casino is huge!" Knuckles said, pointing at the casino that stood in the center of the park. The casino was where it held games that tested one's luck, such as cards, slot machines and roulette. All the rides surrounded the casino. There were roller coasters, a Ferris wheel and many other wild rides you'd find in an amusement park. The thing that amazed him the most was the water fountain that was placed in front of the entrance. It was a way to greet visitors with a spectacular water show.

"There are so many rides here, I don't know where to start." Cream exclaimed. She asked Blaze what ride she would want to go. Blaze answered, saying anything that wasn't the Ferris wheel. Cream chuckled. "Oh, I hadn't noticed the Ferris wheel up until now. Hey! There isn't anyone in line at the moment! Hurry, let's take a seat while we can!"

"Wait, no, Cream! Didn't you hear what I just said?" Blaze yelped as she was being dragged by Cream from the arm. She tried to talk some sense to her, but Cream was too focused on the ride. Blaze took a big gulp. "Gee, I hope I don't throw up..."

"So guys, I bet I can beat you in a game of Blackjack!" Knuckles challenged Donkey Kong. The ape simply gave him a smirk. He himself had no idea how to play "Blackjack" but if he had the chance to beat Knuckles in the game, he'd take it.

"You're on!" Donkey Kong sneered at him. He turned to Yoshi and Tails. "Hey! Why don't you guys come with us? You know what they say, the more the merrier!"

"Yeah, sorry, but I'm under aged to gamble." Tails reminded him. Donkey Kong scratched his head, trying to remember how old Tails was again. "Don't worry about us, you guys have fun. Besides, me and Yoshi are going to try out some of the games they have."

"You bet! And we're going to win a ton of prizes!" Yoshi exclaimed. The four soon headed off in different directions, hoping to have a grand time in the amusement park.

"Hey Mario, you wanna try out that roller coaster over there?" Sonic asked, pointing to the ride. It was the biggest roller coaster ever made in Sonic's world. The ride was famous for it's quadruple loop-de-loop. "It may not be as fast as me, but it sure looks like it can give anyone the thrills. So what do you say?"

"I'm-a think I'll pass, Sonic." Mario told him. He turned back to Peach, who seemed to enjoy the exciting atmosphere of the park. "If you don't mind, I thought that me and Peach would just walk around the park and enjoy the night together. You know, take it easy for once."

"Ohh, uh...sure. Sounds exciting." Sonic said, without much enthusiasm in his voice. Mario nodded to him. He and Peach held each other in the arms and began strolling around casually in the park. Sonic rolled his eyes. How could anyone have the urge to simply walk around in an amusement park? Where was the amusement in that?

"Well, I guess I can't stop them." Sonic said to himself. He turned back to the roller coaster, which was just beginning it's course on the quadruple loop-de-loop. "But then again, there's no stopping me from riding that insane coaster!" He was about to rush in line when Amy stopped him.

"Sonic, do you really think you're going to leave me all by myself here?" Amy asked him. She had her arms crossed. Sonic could see the annoyed look on her face.

"But...come on! Amy!" He pointed at the roller coaster. It was just about to end it's current run on the track. At first, she kept the annoyed look on her face. Suddenly, it turned into a smile. She walked up to Sonic and grabbed his arm.

"I never said you couldn't go on the coaster. Besides, I was thinking of trying it tonight as well." Her statement caused Sonic to smile.

"Well then...I never knew you had good taste in roller coasters." Sonic responded to her. The two hedgehogs quickly ran in line for the ride. They both couldn't wait to have their quills breeze through the wind as they rode speedily on the coaster.

All seemed well with the heroes tonight. For once, they could finally lay aside the stress from their adventures and focus on enjoying their company with one another and have fun. Unaware to them, they didn't realize that soon, they'd bump into a familiar face.

* * *

_**Carnival Park, atop the casino roof**_

Visitors were not allowed access on the roof of the Casino, most likely because there was no point in being up there. Why hang out up there when you could be thrashing your friends around in bumper cars? Oddly enough, this group of strange individuals had no time in playing games.

"Did you see any sign of our robber?" one of them asked. The other two beside him shook their heads. He sighed. "This is so boring! We've been on this rooftop for hours! Why can't we take a break for a little bit and go play some ring toss?"

"Quiet down, Charmy! You always have the urge to complain, do you now?" The leader of the group lectured him. He had a pair of binoculars in his hands and was using them to spy down into the streets of the park. "You know how we roll, we never turn down work that pays."

"Easy for you to say, Vector! At least I know how to have fun here." Charmy snapped at him. Vector completely ignored him and continued to peer down below them. Charmy began to fly around in circles. It had been four hours since they went undercover on the casino. Charmy couldn't take the boredom, especially when he was taunted by the rides around him.

"Have patience, Charmy. I'm sure if we wait long enough, Vector will soon realize how to have fun in his life." Espio said. Charmy howled in laughter from his joke. Vector rolled his eyes. He thought it was sad to know he was the only one on the team who took their jobs seriously.

"Espio, there's no time for jokes. We've got a job to do!" Vector said. He quickly reminded what their mission was at the moment. They were on the lookout to find a robber who seemed to have a duty of stealing all the money from casinos. Their only lead was that the robber had a spiffy mustache and a strange pink nose.

"You do realize we've been up here for four hours, do you?" Espio told him. He was a very patient man, but even Espio had his limits. He had spun a shuriken around his finger to pass the time. "We didn't even get the time to eat anything before we were assigned this mission."

"Ugh...fine then. You guys can go down and grab a snack from the vendors. But don't take too long. I'll know if you two decide to sneak on a ride!" Vector said. Charmy was ecstatic to hear what he said.

"Woohoo! Finally I get to move away from this boring rooftop! It started to smell here anyway." Charmy exclaimed. He flew from the roof and down below into the crowd. Espio jumped down and followed the bee.

_They'll never be good detectives like me. Oh well, what can you do._ Vector thought to himself, shaking his head in disappointment. He didn't need any food to solve a case. He was determined to find the culprit of all these crimes and bring him to justice. More importantly, earn the cash prize for their capture.

We'll be rich, I tell you! Richer than the casino I stand upon this very moment! Woohoo!

Meanwhile, Charmy was keeping a keen eye at the rides. He was overwhelmed by the variety of rides the park had to offer. He had no idea what ride he'd go on. "Hmph! Vector can't stop me on getting on these rides!"

Charmy was about to hop onto a swinging pirate ship ride when he noticed a crowd nearby a carnival game stand. Curiousity got the best of him as he flew over and saw what caused all these people to go there.

Playing a cooperation game of whack-a-mole, were two people. One looked like a giant green dragon, at least to Charmy, while the other one was a familiar fox. They both were on the verge of beating the high score on the game.

"Look at them go! There's no stopping them!" a person from the crowd spoke.

"Look! Look! They're 10 whacks away from beating the high score!" another person shouted.

The two were focused in their game, not daring to look away. They had sharp reflexes and whacked down the moles as soon as they popped out of their holes. The timer had just run out when the dinosaur smacked down the last mole with his paddle, surpassing the high score by one point. The crowd cheered for them.

"Nice one!" Tails exclaimed as he high-fived Yoshi. The owner of the game awarded the two each a large Flicky plushie.

"Aww, why do I get the pink one?" Yoshi groaned as he stared at Tails' gold Flicky plushie. He looked back to his and suddenly got a craving to eat it. "What's the loss? I don't even plan on keeping this stupid thing anyway."

"That was amazing!" Charmy exclaimed. He began flying circles around the two. Clearly he was impressed by their skills. "Man, you guys totally owned this game! I wanna be like you two someday."

"Hi Charmy, I didn't think we'd see you here." Tails said, waving to the bee. Yoshi could only stare at Charmy and lick his lips at the same time. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a giant talking bee before, but he had a feeling this one had a unique taste to him.

"Charmy," called out Espio. He ran past the crowd and met with the three. "You better not keep Vector waiting too long. Remember what happened last time. You wouldn't want him to get out the duct tape again, would you?"

"You should have seen these two earlier, Espio!" Charmy told him. He had just noticed the strange green dinosaur standing beside Tails. Charmy raised an eyebrow towards him. "Hey, I've never seen you before. Heheh, Why do you have a big nose?"

"Don't talk about my nose!" Yoshi growled at him. putting both hands along his nose. "I'm very sensitive about it..."

"He wasn't making fun of you, Yoshi." Tails assured him. He began to introduce the three to each other. "Charmy, Espio, this is Yoshi. He's...sort of our visitor."

"You don't say?" Espio said, sparking interest towards Yoshi. "Mind telling us where you originated from?"

"Uhm...my parents?" Yoshi answered with uncertainty. Tails put a hand to his head and shook it. He corrected Yoshi. "Oh, well why didn't you say so! I come from a beautiful land known as the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"What kind of place is called the Mushroom Kingdom? That's a dumb name!" Charmy said with a chuckle. Yoshi gave him an angry look and threatened to eat him. Charmy taunted him. "Go ahead! Eat me! I'd like to see you try!"

Swiftly, Yoshi threw his tongue at Charmy, grabbing him and swallowing him whole. Charmy traveled through his digestive system and popped out of Yoshi's body, trapped in an egg. Espio and Tails could only look in horror.

"...I warned him..."

"What I just saw, cannot be unseen." Espio said in a shaken voice. He began to rub his eyes, trying to forget what he witnessed. He was usually calm, but strange events like this could only freak him out.

Charmy managed to crack out of the egg he was trapped in. He sat on the ground and looked up to Yoshi, who stared back at him. Charmy suddenly screamed in terror and started flying back to where Vector was. Yoshi simply shrugged. At least he found out what Charmy tasted like.

"Meh, he was sort of bland, if you ask me."

"...anyway, what brings you and the rest of the Chaotix here?" Tails asked Espio. He explained how they were hired to capture a runaway robber who seemed to heist every casino in the world. They were told the robber would hit Carnival Park next.

"That guy has no life." Yoshi said, offering his thoughts. "What's the point of stealing money? It's not like it'll satisfy his hunger. Believe me, I know."

"Maybe he can use the money to buy delicious food." Tails suggested. Yoshi nodded, agreeing with Tails' remark. I hope you guys catch whoever this culprit is." Espio nodded to him and began running back to where the rest of the Chaotix were.

"Those guys were weird..." Yoshi whispered. Tails could only shrug. The two left the whack-a-mole stand and looked for other games to play around the park.

* * *

_**Carnival Park, inside the casino**_

"All right! This is the moment of truth. Time to reveal you hands, gentlemen." the dealer told them. Knuckles and Donkey Kong stared each other. They sat across one another from the card table. They stared at their cards in their hands, confident they had won the game.

"Here we go! I got 20!" Knuckles exclaimed, revealing his hand. He possessed a face card and a 10 of hearts. He leaned back on his chair and put his legs on the table, thinking he won.

"Get your stinkin' feet off the table!" the dealer yelled at Knuckles, slapping his feet off.

"Aw man..." Donkey Kong sighed, frowning at his hand. He looked at Knuckles for a few seconds. "I'm sorry Knuckles...but I'm afraid I won!" He slammed his cards down, revealing he also held a face card and an ace, which could act as a 1 or 11. Donkey Kong possessed 21, winning the game of Blackjack.

"Gah! You've got to be kidding me!" Knuckles shouted in anger and slammed his fist against the table. The power from it caused the table to crack in two and fall down, causing the chips and cards to scatter across the floor. The dealer could only look back to him with an annoyed look.

"You know you must pay for that, right?" the dealer told him. Knuckles gave a nervous chuckle and started slapping himself in the face. Why was it that he always seemed to break everything that wasn't his?

"Playing Blackjack is fun! Let's do it again." Donkey Kong exclaimed, clapping in joy. He never knew playing a game of cards was just as fun as swinging through trees.

Suddenly, an alarm was set off in the casino. Everyone began to panic. What was going on? The dealer had a terrified look on the face. Knuckles asked him what was wrong.

"It can't be! That's the alarm to our vault where we hold all our money! Someone is attempting to rob us!"

"That...sounds serious." Donkey Kong said calmly. He got an idea. "Hey! Why don't we stop whoever is robbing the casino?" Knuckles shook his head. He was here in the park to have fun and get away from all the danger.

"I'll let you off the hook for destroying the table." the dealer told him.

"Deal!" Knuckles answered. The dealer told them where the casino vault was. Knuckles motioned Donkey Kong to follow him. They were going to stop a robbery. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.

The vault was located on the top floor, at the end of a long corridor. The two took the stairways, passing by screaming gamblers. There were people who were carrying their money and began fleeing the casino. Donkey Kong didn't understand them. Their lives were in potential danger and all they cared about was their money.

"Some people are just materialistic." Knuckles explained to him. "I know a certain bat who is like that anyway."

The two reached the corridor that led to the vault. It was a long hallway, covered with a red carpet. The ceilings and walls were painted a marble black. Statues of gold rings were placed at the sides. Laying down in the hall were the guards.

"Oh no! They're dead!" Donkey Kong said in panic. He went up to one of the guards and began shaking him furiously like a rag doll. The guard began to cough and slowly regain consciousness.

"Never mind, they're alright!"

"Sheesh! I just realized something smells in here!" Knuckles said. He also began to cough. Covering his nose from the stench, he started wiping his eyes as they were beginning to tear up from the stench. "Man, how can you stand that smell, DK?"

"I'm a gorilla. I live in the jungle. I practically live in places that stink." Donkey Kong explained. He wasn't really proud to say that, but hey, it was the truth.

"That's how they got in..." the guard explained, still coughing from the smell. "...the man just walked in and...broke wind..." He suddenly lost consciousness once again. Donkey Kong gently laid his body back on the floor and rushed towards the vault. Knuckles followed, covering his nose.

As they reached the end of the corridor, they saw the vault had been open by brute force. There were hand marks that showed someone clenching on the door and swung it open. The two peered into the vault and saw all the gold rings were gone.

"Where could the robber have gone?" Donkey Kong asked. Knuckles looked around inside the vault and saw a hole in the ceiling. Apparently, the robber had some sort of explosive that was powerful enough to destroy the vault and allowed him to flee up to the rooftop.

"Come on! He couldn't have gotten far!" Knuckles said. He jumped onto the wall and used his claws and feet to climb up to the hole. Donkey Kong used his strength to jump up to the hole in the ceiling.

While all the chaos and commotion happened inside the casino, Vector, Charmy and Espio continued to sit on the side of the rooftop. Vector kept looking down in the streets, determined to find the robber, while Charmy and Espio snacked on their cotton candy they bought.

"We're almost done guys! I can sense the culprit nearby!" Vector exclaimed to them. Now that the robbery had just happened, he was sure he'd see the culprit anytime soon. It was just a matter of time.

"This cotton candy tastes weird." Charmy complained, through his sweet on the ground. "I swear, when I buy candy from a place called Sweet Surprises, I expect the surprise to be good, not bad!"

"You got what you bought, that's all that matters to the seller." Espio said as he munched on his cotton candy. Surprisingly, the sweet tasted really good to him. He assumed cotton candy wasn't for everyone.

"Can we just go find the robber. Vector? It beats staying on this boring rooftop!" Charmy complained. He began to sniff the air. "Blargh! What is this? I swear, it didn't smell this bad before. Did any of you guys...fart?"

"Wasn't me. Probably Espio. He did eat carnival food, and that stuff is nasty." Vector assumed. Espio was about to complain when he noticed someone else was on the rooftop. It look like a short, plump man carrying a bag of some sort. They were climbing through a hole in the roof.

"Who could that be?" Espio said. The other two looked to where he pointed. Vector noticed who the person was.

"Hey! That's our robber! I can see the pink nose and his dashing mustache through his mask!" Vector shouted. The robber looked at them and quickly ran away from them. The Chaotix began to chase after him. As they were about to pass the hole, Knuckles and Donkey Kong hopped out from it, bumping into them.

"What's the matter with you! We're trying to catch a culprit!" Charmy shouted at them.

"We're also trying to catch someone too, you know!" Knuckles shouted back. He quickly recognized who they bumped into. "Hey! It's the Chaotix! Long time no see guys."

"Same with you." Espio said, helping him up. He looked to Donkey Kong, who was getting up as well. For some reason, he had a feeling where'd he came from. "Let me guess, you're friend here is from the Mushroom Kingdom."

"How do you know?" Donkey Kong asked him. Espio told him his encounter with Tails and Yoshi. He was sure Yoshi wasn't the only one who they'd met. "Wow, you're really good at guessing. You've got to teach me how you do it!"

"Guys! We don't have time for chit chat! We have a robber to catch!" Vector reminded them. The robber had just reached the edge of the rooftop. He taunted them by waving his bum and them and jumped below into the park.

"Oh no he didn't!" Charmy said. He had the urge to stab his stinger right into the robber's bum. He and the others chased after the robber. Things would only begin to get hectic inside the amusement park.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_Knuckles, Donkey Kong and the Chaotix are just behind the robber's tail_****_! Will they be able to catch him before he gets away? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

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**A/N: Carnival Park is supposed to be a mix of Casinopolis from Sonic Adventure and Pinna Park from Super Mario Sunshine. The whole area expands upon these ascepts and combines them, with a large casino and a variety of rides and games.**

**I introduce Team Chaotix in this chapter. I thought it was appropriate to finally add them in the story, well, at least when I thought of the environment the heroes would travel to next. The Chaotix will do anything for money, and a casino has money. Heh, good comparison, right? Yeah, I know it isnt...**

**Who could be the robber? I think some of you guys already know who it is. This is really hard to narrow down. Who likes money? Who is known to cause these terrible smelling wafts? Wafts! Wafts...what a weird word. Why didn't I just use fart? Idk.**

**Summer vacation just started for me, which means I'll have more time to work on these chapters and make them as interesting and action-packed as I can! Everyday I try to improve on my writing quality. I hope you guys see the improvement, whether it is barely or significantly noticeable.**

**Thanks for reading and supporting this story. You guys are the best! Come back next week to read the next chapter and remember to review as I enjoy reading what you guys have to say. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

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**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	70. Going for the Jackpot!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 70: Going for the Jackpot!_**

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**_Carnival Park, behind a vending machine_**

Amidst in the amusement park were two robots hiding from cover. After their humiliating defeat from the heroes, Orbot and Cubot had crashed their Egg Boomerang in the middle of the ocean. Luckily, they pulled out the emergency ejection seats and floated out of the doomed hovercraft. After floating across the ocean for hours, they found themselves just off the coast of the amusement park. Now they were taking the moment to plan their next objective.

"Darn those heroes! Why do they always seem to have the upper hand against us?" Orbot complained. He recalled their numerous attempts fighting against the heroes. The Savannah Citadel. The Mystic Cave. Above the skies of Chun-nan. No matter where they fought, the heroes always won. "Not even our badnik army is having any better luck than us."

"Maybe we are just doomed to fail." Cubot said casually. He was sitting against the vending machine. In his hand was the Yellow Chaos Emerald. If there was anything positive about their situation, it was that they still had the emerald with them.

"We need to come up with a more ingenious plan to overwhelm the heroes," Orbot told his companion. He suddenly remembered information the doctor had told him, before he had disappeared. "Cubot, do you remember the plan our master told us. I think he called it, Project U?"

"Meh, sort of." Cubot said, disinterested. "Why do you talk about just now?"

"If I recall, the doctor told us this project would revolutionize the world. It would drastically change everything about this planet. The people, the politics, the power." Orbot could hear the doctor's words in his head. He seemed really confident about his plan. The only thing that prevented him from going through it was the lack of resources.

"Why do you have in mind? I'm all ears." Cubot asked. Orbot thought that they should resume production with Project U, even without the doctor's leadership. If whatever the doctor was talking about was true, they could use Project U to finally defeat the heroes. "Are you crazy Orbot? We can't touch another one of Eggman's things! You know how clumsy we are!"

"We are desperate, are we?" Orbot reminded him. "The heroes are probably the only ones who know the whereabouts of the doctor. We have to do whatever we can to cough the answers out of them. You do want to find the doctor, right?"

"Of course!" Cubot answered. It was all his mind was set on. The robots decided to head back to headquarters to dig up the blue prints of Project U. As they hovered away from the vending machine, they noticed a familiar face in the park.

"Am I seeing things, or is that the red plumber?" Orbot asked, pointing towards what he thought was Mario. With him, was someone the robots didn't recognize: Peach.

"It is him! And he's with a woman!" Cubot exclaimed. How were the odds that they'd be in the same place as them? It didn't matter to the robots. They found him. Seeing how they looked defenseless, and no sign of the other heroes, the robots thought it was appropriate to attack.

"Sonic's world appears to be as lively just as much as our world, if not more. I like it." Peach told Mario. The plumber nodded. "I'm really grateful we were able to see them again, even under an unfortunate circumstance for us."

"I'm-a sure we'll find a way to return home to our world." Mario assured her. After all, they did what they thought was the impossible by helping Sonic return to their world. If they could accomplish that, they could accomplish their return to their world as well.

"Hey! The guy with the mustache!" a voice called to Mario. The two looked over and saw Orbot and Cubot waving at them. Mario gasped, while Peach looked in confusion and asked who those were.

"You know how when you throw a boomerang, it comes back to you? These guys are just like that. Only you don't want them to come back." Mario told her. Peach took his hint that they were trouble. "We need to find the others."

"Where do you two think you're going?" Cubot shouted to them. He quickly charged at both of them, both fists in front of him. Mario carried Peach bridal style and jumped out of the way. They proceeded towards a crowd of tourists.

"Don't let them get away!" Orbot demanded. He and Cubot chased after the two, hovering through the sprawling crowd. Mario and Peach continued running away. They had to find the others and tell them of the robot's presence.

"Keep running!" Mario told Peach. She tightly gripped Mario's hand as they continued running. After escaping the crowd, Mario looked around and saw merry-go-round in front of them. They decided to hide there.

"Where did they go?" Cubot yelled, looking through the crowd. Orbot told him to keep looking. They hovered out of the crowd and saw they lost the two. Frustrated, Orbot ordered they should split up and search the whole park. They couldn't have gotten too far.

Mario and Peach hid behind the horses of the merry-go-round, staying for one duration of the ride. They got off when they were sure Orbot and Cubot weren't there. The two rushed through the park, trying to find the other heroes.

* * *

**_Carnival Park, rollar coaster exit_**

"Wow! That was nothing I've ever experienced before!" Amy exclaimed as she got off the roller coaster and headed for the exit. Sonic followed right behind her. Never before had she'd been on a roller coaster that ran through speeds over 150mph, let alone one that had four loop-de-loops in a row.

"Nothing too impressive, but I've got to admit, it did keep me on the edge of my seat." Sonic told her. Sonic was obviously used to the high speeds, being the fastest thing alive and all. The ride unfazed him, unlike Amy, who began to feel dizzy and teeter back and forth.

"Whoa! I think I'm start to lose my balance." Amy said. Her vision started to go blurry. She was about to fall to the side when Sonic caught her. He decided to bring her to a nearby park bench so she could relax and get her mind back on track.

"Pretty exciting, huh?" Sonic asked her as they sat on the bench. Amy didn't answer, as she was focusing on relaxing herself. She laid her head onto Sonic's shoulder and closed her eyes. Sonic surprisingly didn't mind. "It's a good thing you didn't eat anything before the ride. If it made you feel this sick, I'd feel terrified to know what would happen then."

"How funny are you. But I guess you're right." Amy said. She suddenly reached for his hand and held onto it. "It doesn't matter though, because I'm having a wonderful time with you."

"...me too." Sonic responded. He suddenly felt a whole other side of him take over. He began to rub her hand that held his. He laid his head against hers and closed his eyes. They took the moment to enjoy one another's company. The two wondered how all of this was began happening.

"Sonic!" Mario shouted at him. Sonic jerked up from his seat with surprise and saw Mario standing in front of him. Peach stood behind him. Mario scratched his head and gave a small cough. "Uhmm...was I interrupting something?"

"Ooh...uhh...no. Nothing important happening here at all." Sonic said, giving a nervous grin. He looked back to Amy, who had a sad expression on her face after he made that statement. "...anyway, why'd you guys come to us for?"

Mario told him about their encounter with Orbot and Cubot. Sonic was surprised the robots survived their last encounter. Yearning for more action and not wanting to ruin the other's enjoyment in the park, Sonic decided he and Mario should deal with the problem themselves. He told Amy to stay with Peach while they looked for the robots.

"Is something the matter, dear?" Peach asked Amy as she sat beside her. Amy shrugged. She thought she was realizing her dreams were turning into a reality, but all that was gone, taken away from her with one simple comment.

"Why do things have to be so complicated between the two of us?"

* * *

**_Carnival Park, within the streets_**

Meanwhile, Knuckles, Donkey Kong and the Chaotix were running through the park, chasing after the robber. The group had chased him off the casino rooftop and now headed towards the direction of the Ferris wheel.

"Don't let him get away!" Knuckles said. "I need him so I don't have to pay the casino for the damages I made!"

"So you don't care about their money being stolen?" Donkey Kong asked him. Knuckles shrugged. Sure, a robbery isn't anything good, but he'd be robbed of his own money if they didn't catch the robber.

"Espio! Charmy! You guys are the fastest ones here. Try to subdue the robber!" Vector commanded. Espio and Charmy nodded. Together, they rushed behind the robber. Espio took out a shuriken, while Charmy prepared his stinger to paralyze the robber.

Suddenly, the robber's stomach began to rumble. The robber let out a grunt and a huge gas of fart smoked out of his behind, letting out a terrible odor, with a stench of garlic to it. The minute Espio and Charmy sniffed the odor, they both fell back, unconscious from the disastrous attack.

"What in the world just happened?" Knuckles shouted. He got a good whiff of the smell, quickly blocking his nose with his hands. "Oh man! Not that smell again! Geez, what's this guy's problem?"

"Only I know someone capable of smelling this bad." Donkey Kong said, realizing who the robber was. They couldn't chase after the robber without passing through the fart cloud, which meant they lost him.

"Good thing I didn't go after him myself. I feel kind of bad for Espio and Charmy now." Vector admitted. Although, he didn't dare go closer to them as their bodies were covered with the horrible smell. Now what could they do? The robber had escaped from them.

Near the Ferris wheel, Tails and Yoshi were waiting in line for their turn on the ride. At the same time, Cream and Blaze had just gotten on and were buckling their seatbelts. Cream couldn't wait for the ride to begin, while Blaze cowered in her seat, keeping her eyes shut.

"Have fun you two!" Tails exclaimed to them. Cream waved back to them as the ride began to start. Blaze didn't dare move in her seat, afraid that it would tip over and cause them to fall down. Cream noticed her friend's expression and began to comfort her.

"Don't worry Blaze. We won't be on this ride forever. And if anything happens, I promise I'll keep you from harm." She rubbed her friend's hand, relaxing her a bit.

"Hey Tails, is it just me, or do you I smell garlic?" Yoshi asked him as he sniffed the air in curiosity. Tails noticed it too and suggested it came from the food vendors. "I don't know why, but this smell seems...familiar."

Suddenly, a plump man wearing a mask and carrying a large bag over his shoulder passed them in line. He rushed up to the Ferris wheel and took the next seat. Everyone in line complained to him for cutting the whole line.

"Oh, shut up!" the plump man scowled at them. He threw some gold rings at the ride's supervisor, bribing him to start the ride. The supervisor said nothing and started up the ride.

"Someone ought tell this guy a thing or two about waiting in line." Yoshi said, frustrated. Tails took the opportunity to fly up to the plump man and offer him a few words of what he thought.

"Hey, I have no idea who you are, but it wasn't too polite to just cut everyone in line. You can't just take shortcuts in life, mister. You need to have patience-" Right in the middle of Tails' banter, the plump man let out a huge fart. The stench caused Tails to gag. He waved the smell away from him as he flew back down to the ground. "Whoa! Man you stink!"

"Oh! So that's where the smell is coming from!" Yoshi realized. He wasn't too fond of the smell either, but at least he knew where it came from. Still angry by the plump man's behavior, Yoshi decided to take things into his own hands. He shot his tongue out and caught the man by the leg.

"Let go of me, you stupid brat!" the plump man yelled down to him. He struggled to escape Yoshi's grasp, thrashing his leg wildly. Yoshi fought to keep his grip. Tails decided to help and grabbed Yoshi's tongue. Letting out a grunt of effort, he pulled down at the tongue, throwing the plump man off the ride and causing him to fall face first into the ground.

"What's the problem with you fools?" the plump man yelled at them, holding a fist in the air. At that moment, his mask had fallen off him, revealing his true identity.

"...what? Wario? But how?" Yoshi said in a confused tone. Even Tails was surprised to see their long time rival. Their emotions were mixed. They weren't too fond to see the him, yet were glad to find another one of Mario's friends.

"Yeah! Who do you think I am? There is only one Wario and that's me!" Wario exclaimed, putting his hands in the air, making a "W" sign with both of them. "And with the money I've stolen from this world, I'm gonna be the richest man!"

He looked around his shoulder, only to find his bag of stolen money was gone. Panicked, he screamed where his bag had gone.

"Are you talking about this bag?" Cream suddenly spoke. She and Blaze had gotten out of their seat from all the commotion. Cream carried Blaze with both hands, while she carried the bag of stolen money.

"HEY! That's my money! I rightfully stole all of that!" Wario shouted at them.

"How nice of you to admit to the crime." Blaze told him. Suddenly, the security guards of the amusement park had arrived at the scene. They began to surround Wario. Frustrated at his loss, Wario let out an angry scream.

"Gah! I will not accept this loss! I worked too hard for all of this! I am Wario and I will get what I want!" Wario screamed. Suddenly, he let out another huge waft in the air, causing everyone around him to cough and gag from the stench. Once the fart cloud disappeared, everyone realized Wario was gone.

"Where did he go?" Tails asked. No one knew. The only good thing to come out of this was they had the stolen money Wario took. Blaze gave the bag to the security guards. They thanked the heroes for their efforts.

"I'm assuming that's another one of Mario's friends." Blaze said. Yoshi slowly nodded. He wasn't too proud to admit it.

Those rascals! Why are they here anyway? Wario thought to himself as he ran through the amusement park, away from the others. Ever since he appeared in Sonic's world, he had taken the time to steal all of the money from the casinos around the world. Now with all his money gone, Wario had nothing left but vengeance.

_They're going to pay so badly! I'm going to make sure of it!_

_THUD!_

Wario had unexpectedly bumped into someone, causing the both of them to knock backwards. Wario rubbed his head and looked to who he bumped into. To his surprise, it was a yellow robot with a block head.

"Hey mister! Watch where you're going!" Cubot yelled at him. Orbot had witnessed the whole thing and couldn't help but gave out a small chuckle. He helped his robot pal up.

"Watch where I'm going? You're a robot! Why don't you watch where you're going?" Wario yelled at him. Suddenly, something caught his eye. Laying in front of him was a yellow emerald of some sort. He recognized the emerald. "Hey! That's my emerald!"

"Don't tell me you dropped the Chaos Emerald, Cubot." Orbot said to him. Cubot showed him his empty hands, assuring him he did drop the emerald. Orbot slapped his head in disappointment over his pal's clumsiness. "What are you even talking about sir? It's not even your emerald-"

He turned to Wario, only to realize he was gone, along with the Chaos Emerald.

"The nerve of him! To escape with the emerald while we weren't looking. What a coward!" Orbot said in anger. He motioned Cubot to follow him so they could search the park for the mystery plump man.

"Hey Orbot, did you realize he kind of looked like the red plumber, only fatter and wearing different colored overalls?" Cubot asked him. Orbot nodded to him and suggested he was working with Mario, further strengthening their determination to find the plump man, as he could lead them to the heroes.

* * *

_**Carnival Park, outside the Casino entranc**_e

"Where should we look first?" Sonic asked Mario on their search for Orbot and Cubot. Mario explained he last saw them near a vending machine down by the carnival games. The two decided to search there first. Just as they began walking, they were knocked down by someone.

"Mamamia!" Mario groaned as he got up. He helped Sonic up and looked to who had bumped into. Mario's eyes widened as he realized they had bumped into Wario. "Oh, Wario! Is that really you?"

"Of course it is, who else would it be!" Wario snarled at him. He soon realized he was talking to Mario. "What the, you're here too? What the heck is going on here? I thought I was the only one in this world and now you clowns have to appear as well!"

"Clowns? I'm guessing you saw the others as well." Sonic said. He shook his head. "I guess it's good to see you're okay, although isn't that stretching things a little too far."

"Bah! I don't care what you guys think. All that matters is I have this!" Wario showed them the Yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand. Mario and Sonic were shocked to see he still had his emerald in possession.

"Wario! You need to give us the Chaos Emerald. It can help us return to our world." Mario told him. Wario gave him a disgusted look. He wasn't going to share his emerald with the others right after just getting it back. He turned to see Orbot and Cubot closing in on him.

"Screw you guys! All for one!" Wario snarled and began running towards the park exit. Mario and Sonic began to give chase and soon realized Orbot and Cubot were following right behind them.

"Well, at least we found those guys again." Sonic joked. He told Mario he'd take care of the robots while Mario continued chasing after Wario. Sonic quickly braked his feet and turned back. Orbot and Cubot suddenly panicked and began hovering in the opposite direction, tired of getting beaten by the heroes.

"Quick! He's catching up to us!" Cubot yelled. They ran past the casino and into a tent where circus acts were being performed for visitors. The robots looked around and saw a cannon in the middle of the tent arena. They hid inside it, hoping for Sonic to not find them.

"Uhm...I just realized, we're hiding inside a cannon." Orbot said. Cubot asked what the problem was while Orbot shrugged. "Well, when you think about it, this isn't the most safest place to hide in the whole world, don't you think?"

Suddenly, the robots heard a match being set, followed by a sizzling sound. The robots realized the cannon was about to fire. Bracing themselves, they retracted to their portable forms. In no time they were shot out of the cannon, through the tent and began soaring through the air to who knows where.

"I didn't know they had a circus act at Carnival Park." Sonic said as he watched Orbot and Cubot fly through the air and into the night sky. He shrugged. "We've got to come here more often, this place has everything!"

"Wario! You need to listen to me!" Mario shouted at him. Wario plugged his ears as he continued running, not listening to a word Mario said. "We need the Chaos Emeralds to return home! Why won't you listen?"

"Still, what makes you think I'm going to share with you morons?" Wario yelled back to him. He had just reached the park's exit when he stopped and turned back to face Mario.

"I know it's going to be hard to convince you, but I know if we constantly bicker at you, you're common sense will reach your thick skull." Mario said, not realizing he just offended Wario.

"What! Did you just call me dumb?" Wario shouted at him. His face had turned red from anger. "This is just one of the few reasons why I despise you so much! Gah! I'm going to clobber you like a goomba!"

Suddenly, Wario charged towards Mario. Reacting to his attack, Mario did a back flip somersault in the air, quickly initiating a Ground Pound afterwards, landing on Wario's head. The attack caused Wario to become dazed. He lost his balance and fell backwards, unconscious.

"Did I do that? Wow." Mario said. He slowly walked up to Wario's body and poked it. He was out cold. "I'm-a really becoming stronger, am I. Fantastic!"

He took the Yellow Chaos Emerald out of Wario's hands and stared at it for a few moments. Five down, two more to go. They were just one step closer to returning back to their world. Mario began dragging Wario's unconscious body back to the Star Fighter. He knew once he'd awaken, he'd go through an unfit rage.

_I'm-a need lots and lots of duct tape._

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

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**_Mario has retrieved their fifth Chaos Emerald and has finally found and "convinced" Wario to join them! What will happen next to the heroes? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

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**A/N: Wow, a lot of events occur in this chapter. I'm kind of glad I found a way to fit all of them here as I thought I'd have to make a seperate chapter. Everything seems fast-paced and there's plenty of action going around, leaving no empty spots. It's something that I try to aim for every chapter.**

**Well what do you know, the robber happened to be Wario. Who would've guessed? It seemed pretty obvious to finally make his reappearance in a casino-themed park due to his obsession with money.**

**We've reached a total of 70 chapters. Amazing! We're not even close to the end of this story yet! Lots more action, drama, humor and twists will happen on our road to the finale. I already have everything planned out from here on, it's just a matter of time now.**

**Thanks for reading this week's chapter and for supporting this story. It means a lot to me! Come back next week and remember to leave a review. We appreciate what everyone has to say! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

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**_~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega respectively~_**


	71. Depraved!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 71: Depraved!_**

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**_Carnival Park, near the Star Figh__ter_**

It was almost midnight, and it was nearing the closing time for Carnival Park. Visitors began heading their way home, crowds began to lessen in the streets. The life of the amusement park was slowly dying out, but it would always come back to life the next day.

"I can't believe we lost the culprit!" Vector complained, shaking his head in shame. He was walking out of the park, along with Knuckles, Donkey Kong, Espio and Charmy. He sighed. Now he wouldn't be able to receive the big reward he was promised by their client.

"Hey, at least you weren't peppered right in the face by a puke-inducing stench." Charmy reminded him. He was still coughing after the mystery robber broke wind in front of him and Espio. "Gosh, the smell was worse than a skunk!"

"I'm going to have to take four bathes just to get rid of the smell off my body." Espio said. He suddenly spazzed out and shook his body. The experience of being fart on would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Come on, quit you're complaining." Knuckles said, his arms crossed in front of him. He was frustrated about his consequence with the casino. "Because that stupid robber got away, I gotta work my way for the casino just to pay for a dumb table! Sheesh! So much for overreacting."

"Aren't you the one who broke the table after freaking out from losing a game of Blackjack?" Donkey Kong reminded him. Knuckles gave him a furious glare and shouted right in his face. "Whoa, take it easy, I'm just messing around with you."

"Not funny, considering you didn't lose anything of value from today." Knuckles growled at him. Donkey Kong shrugged. He assumed he was just lucky.

The group arrived in front of the Star Fighter. The door opened and Mario came walking out. Donkey Kong questioned to why he was already at the aircraft already. He told them to come in and check out a familiar face he bumped in the park.

Taped to the bathroom seat was Wario. He struggled to get out of his bounds. Seeing the heroes, he screamed at them. Luckily, Mario had taped his mouth shut as well.

"What the-Wario? How did you find Wario in the park?" Knuckles shouted. Mario shrugged. He assumed it was luck they bumped into each other, even under tense circumstances.

"Wait a minute, this guy looks familiar." Vector said. He stared at Wario, carefully inspecting him. "No way! He looks like the robber without his mask! I can't believe it!" He turned to Mario and hugged him. "We can still get our reward! And it's all thanks to you..."

"It's-a me, Mario." Mario told him. Vector introduced him to the rest of the Chaotix team and thanked him for catching the robber. He then asked for the bag of money Wario had stolen from the casinos. "What money?"

"The money he'd stolen." Vector told him. Mario shrugged. He didn't see any bag of money with him, only the Chaos Emerald.

"Hey cool. you found another Chaos Emerald." Donkey Kong nonchalantly praised him, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Well you be quiet! I didn't ask for any Chaos Emerald! I asked about the bag of money this lunatic stole!" Vector said, pointing back to Wario. Mario assured him he didn't possess any stolen money bag. "Are you kidding me? Without the bag of money, we won't be able to receive our reward!"

Suddenly, the rest of the heroes entered the Star Fighter, surprised to see the others already there. The groups greeted each other and asked what they were talking about.

"Vector is looking for a bag of money Wario stole." Knuckles explained.

"Wario is here? Where?" Yoshi asked. Knuckles pointed to the washroom. He and the others looked inside, surprised to see Wario taped to the toilet seat. "Oh, hey Wario! How's it going? Looks like you're sticking around with us for awhile."

"Will all of you focus!" Vector shouted at them. Everyone turned to him, surprised by his outburst. "Look, all I'm asking is for a bag of money. It's about this big and it has a lot of money in it. Did any of you happen to see it?"

"Oh, I did." Cream answered him as she sat down in one of the passenger seats. Vector asked where she had seen the money bag. "Blaze and I gave it back to the security guards. They were really grateful they received their money back."

"...are you serious?" Vector said with a shocked look. Cream happily nodded to him. Vector asked if she received any reward. Cream explained she was offered 1000 rings, but turned it down for a free lollipop. Vector eyes widened in shock. His shoulder fell down in a sluggish matter and he sighed.

"Ugh...so close...what's the point anymore?" Vector slowly walked out of the Star Fighter, waving the others good-bye. Espio and Charmy followed him, also saying good-bye.

"That dinosaur still creeps me out." Charmy whispered to Espio.

"I wanna eat that bee again," Yoshi whispered to Tails. "he was delicious!"

"Well, tonight turned out to be really exciting." Sonic said, laying back in his passenger seat. Suddenly, he remembered the emerald. He turned to Mario, who showed him the Yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand. "Looks like we even hit the jackpot."

"Where did you find that?" Amy asked him. Mario pointed back to the bathroom. Amy rolled her eyes. "I'm assuming it wasn't an easy task without Sonic's help." Sonic raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought whatever task you took over me was important, Sonic. But it looked like Mario did all the work."

"It was, I just had to take care of other things." Sonic explained to her. Amy gave an annoyed sigh and went to the back of the Star Fighter to calm herself down. "What's her problem?"

"Don't worry Sonic, I'm sure you'll understand eventually." Peach said as she sat down beside him and gently patted his shoulder. "Girls can be a challenge to understand. But they have good reasons behind their behavior, mostly due to a man's attitude."

"Are you saying I did something wrong?" Sonic suggested. Peach shook her head and told him that everyone makes mistakes whether they mean to or not. Sonic thought about what she said and tried to recall what he did to Amy once again.

"Let me just say this," Peach advised him. "A girl always likes it when a boy makes her feel important all the time."

"So what's our next step in our adventure?" Blaze asked the others. The group had to think about it for a moment. They had unexpectedly found the fifth Chaos Emerald.

"I think it is obvious we need to find the locations of the last two Chaos Emeralds." Tails started. He decided to take out his Miles Electric and check out the emerald radar app. Turning it on, he saw that the Green Chaos Emerald was on South Island and the White Chaos Emerald was in Metal City.

"Let's go to South Island first, it won't be that hard to find an emerald there." Knuckles suggested. Tails advised it would be a better bet to check Metal City first, as it would take more time to find an emerald there. Plus, no one but the heroes knew the emerald was on South Island. What danger was there anyway to just leave it until then?

"Okay, so we know what we're going to do next." Yoshi said. He looked back to the washroom. "What about Wario though? We can't just leave him in the washroom all day. He sort of is one of us."

"You're right...as much as I don't like him, he is one of us." Donkey Kong repeated. He scratched the back of his head. "If you guys are alright, I guess I could look after him while the rest of you are at Metal City. I don't mind."

"That's really thoughtful of you, DK." Tails said. He felt kind of bad the ape wouldn't join them for their next adventure. Tails went into deep thought. "Hey, why don't one of us accompany you, so you won't feel lonely."

"Yeah, Knuckles." Sonic suggested.

"Hey! Why me?" Knuckles complained. He crossed his arms, not really fond of missing out on the heroes's next adventure.

"Why not?" Sonic told him. "Come on, stop whining. Donkey Kong is being nice enough to watch over the fartbag in the bathroom. Why can't you be thoughtful for once too?" Knuckles angrily sighed and gave in.

"Woohoo! Don't worry Knuckles, me and you are going to have a blast!" Donkey Kong promised him. He gave Knuckles a short hug, which the echidna didn't really appreciate.

The heroes were prepared for the next adventure in finding the Chaos Emeralds. With Knuckles and Donkey Kong watching over Wario back at Tails' house, the others could go on their way to find the next Chaos Emerald in Metal City.

Who or what could await them?

* * *

_**Abandoned Scrap Brain Zone, Main Control room**_

There was silence throughout the Scrap Brain zone. It had been in silence for so long even after it's new occupants made their new base there. But soon, it would only have one occupant. The other, who was waiting in the main control room, decided it was best for him to leave.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Luigi said to himself. He paced around in front of the control room's computer, thinking about what he was going to do next. Right now, he was wearing his usual attire. It had been so long since he'd worn it after sporting the new jumpsuit Metal Sonic supplied him.

"This is crazy. Why would he trick me? What use am I to him?" Luigi said. After finally regaining his memories after his confrontation with Mario back in Chun-nan, Luigi decided it was best to meet Metal Sonic one last time to get answers from him. He knew he could have simply stayed with the others, but Luigi felt like he should confront Metal Sonic once more. He couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Luigi had waited in the room for over a few hours. What was taking Metal Sonic so long? It had been awhile since he had seen him. The only thing he remembered was that Metal Sonic had left to "find something important". What could he had been referring to?

"Maybe I should just leave." Luigi said. Knowing Metal Sonic was now his enemy, it wouldn't be too wise to be in his presence. What dangers could he bring back with him? Luigi looked at the doorway. He could leave right now and find the heroes. Or he could stay and find out answers from Metal Sonic.

He hesitated for a moment. Suddenly, he began heading towards the doorway.

"Where are you headed?" a voice called back to him. Luigi froze. He slowly turned back to see Metal Sonic standing a few feet behind him. In his hand was the Green Chaos Emerald and the Jeweled Scepter.

"Oh...uhh...hey, my metal buddy!" Luigi nervously said to him. He slowly approached Metal Sonic and gave him a forced grin. "So...how was your day?"

"...fine." Metal Sonic answered. He stared at Luigi's clothing, noticing he had changed. "Since we are asking questions, may I say, why did you happen to change your attire, hmm?"

"Oh, nothing!" Luigi tried to reason with him. "You know that jumpsuit you gave me? I was really starting to sweat in it after wearing it a few days in a row. So yeah, I decided to change for awhile."

"Acceptable, for now." Metal Sonic said. He started to become suspicious over Luigi's behavior. He knew something the robot didn't know. "If you don't mind, may you pass the rest of the Chaos Emeralds to me?"

"Oh...uh..well...you see..." Luigi stuttered. He gulped as Metal Sonic stared at him. "I kind of...well...lost them." Metal Sonic continued staring at Luigi for a moment. Suddenly, he shot a laser beam from his eyes, shooting it at the computer screen in the room, causing Luigi to panic.

"What do you mean you lost them!" Metal Sonic shouted at him. Luigi hesitated for a moment. "Answer me, you insolent fool!" He aimed the Jeweled Scepter towards Luigi, who still hesitated. "Do not tell me the heroes stole them from you."

"...maybe?" Luigi answered. Metal Sonic suddenly stomped his foot into the floor, causing a small shockwave to shake the room. It knocked Luigi backwards onto the floor. He stared up to the robot, who stared down to him. "Speaking of the heroes...you told me one of them dressed like me, only in red. Is there a chance that...he is my brother?"

"When did you realize this?" Metal Sonic asked him. Luigi shrugged, trying to convince him he had just thought of the question just now. "You're lying to me. You've known this for quite some time now, have you? What else do you know?"

"I don't know..." Luigi lied. Suddenly, Metal Sonic pointed the Jeweled Scepter back down at Luigi. "Okay! Okay! I'll tell you!" Metal Sonic lowered the scepter, allowing Luigi to tell him everything he knew up to this point.

"So...you've finally remembered your true identity." Metal Sonic said. He calmly rested the scepter on his shoulder and looked at the emerald in his hands. "I had a feeling you'd remember eventually, just not this sudden."

"Why did you trick me?" Luigi asked him as he got up. "Why use am I to you? Why did you need me to go through your plans when you are well aware you could do all of this yourself?"

"I knew how important you were to the heroes," Metal Sonic began to explain. He walked around the control room. "You cared about each other very much, even to risk your lives for each other. Having this knowledge, I used you to help me find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds. After that, I'd use you as bait. I'd need the heroes afterwards and nothing would be easier to get them here than to use one of their friends as a trap. It's a double kill for me: I have someone to help me, while I have someone to bait the heroes."

"So it's like I'm a pig raised for a slaughterhouse," Luigi said, shocked to realize Metal Sonic's plan. "You raise me to be your sidekick, then deceive me to blackmail the others to coming here, so you could finish your plan. To cross over to the Negative Dimension."

"Are you saddened? Knowing that you wouldn't get anything out of this?" Metal Sonic asked him. "You didn't know though, that I wouldn't give you power to rule over the world. Maybe it was the other way around. Maybe I did plan on sharing the power with you."

"I've had enough of your lies." Luigi shouted at him. "I've spent far too long here. Now that I know who the real me is, I'm going back to where I belong. I'm going to reunite with the rest of the heroes. And we'll make sure we take you down!"

"What makes you think I'll let you leave here alive?" Metal Sonic told him. Suddenly, he shot a shadowy spell from the Jeweled Scepter. Luigi jumped out of the spells ways. The spell hit the wall, greatly damaging it. "You better run while you can, coward!"

Luigi started running out of the control room. Metal Sonic flew after him. Using the Jeweled Scepter, he fired a barrage of shadow blasts at the plumber, missing him by only a few inches. The two continued to chase each other through the corridor until they came across a room full of saw blades and conveyer belts.

"This place needs safety hazards!" Luigi shouted. He jumped onto a conveyer belt just Metal Sonic shot another shadow blast at him. He began jumping from each conveyer belt, intending to reach the other side of the room.

"This is where I get to have fun!" Metal Sonic snarled. He began to conjure a green spell from the tip of the Jeweled Scepter. He shot it in the middle of the room, causing a bright light to envelope everything. Suddenly, all of the machinery began to move in motion.

"What's going on!" Luigi yelled. He tripped on the moving conveyer belt. It slowly brought him towards an active sawblade. Seeing this, Luigi rolled back up and jumped onto another conveyer belt. He jumped near a sawblade, which swung towards him. Luckily, he ducked just in time and jumped to the next belt.

"You like what I did there? It's a reanimation spell." Metal Sonic explained. He pointed the scepter towards Luigi and shot another shadow blast at him. The spell hit, causing Luigi to fall forward and dangling onto the side of the belt. Luigi tried to get up, but realized he was nearing another sawblade. He looked below, seeing the metal pipes below him. Taking his chances, he let go and grabbed onto a pipe below him.

"Do what you want, but you're not getting out of this alive!" Metal Sonic yelled down to him. He flew down towards Luigi and knocked down the pipe he held onto, causing both it and Luigi to fall down deeper into the Scrap Brain zone.

Luigi tumbled down, holding tightly onto the pipe. He ended up entering a hole in the zone, sliding down the pipe. This was no water slide fun, as a robot was chasing after him. Screaming as he slid through the pipe, Luigi reached the end, landing in a room full of purple chemical water.

"Ugh, don't feel like swimming through that!" Luigi said to himself. He looked down into the water, wondering what dwelled in it. Above him, he heard Metal Sonic chasing after him. Having no choice, Luigi held his breath and jumped into the chemical water. Metal Sonic watched as the plumber swam through the chemical.

"I won't make this easy for him." Metal Sonic said under his breath. He raised the Jeweled Scepter and threw another green spell, this time throughout the whole factory. He flew back out the pipe to find another way to where Luigi was headed.

Luigi swam through the chemical water, careful not to overexert himself. As he swam, he saw the machinery around him reactivate. Great, as if this made it easier for him!

He swam towards a small gap between the walls, seeing a row of swing maces in front of him. He'd have to pass them if he wanted to go on. Carefully, he waited until the maces swung by, then quickly swam past them. He passed the maces with ease, exiting the gap.

_Oh no! Air! Air!_ Luigi thought to himself. He looked around him and saw bubbles spurting out from a crack in the wall. Luigi swam towards it and waited for a large enough air bubble to pop out. Luigi's lungs felt like they were on fire as he ran out of air.

_This isn't good!_ Luigi thought as his felt his conscious go away. He couldn't hold his breath any longer and opened his mouth. Luckily, an air bubble popped out and he accidently swallowed it. Luigi was grateful and continued swimming.

As he swam, he suddenly felt a current pass by in front of him. Taking the chance, Luigi followed the current. It swept him through an underwater corridor. Luigi wailed around as the current carried him. It brought him to the surface of a room. Luigi coughed as he climbed out of the chemical water.

"I...hate...water." Luigi said to himself. He took his hat off his head and squeezed the water out from it, placing it back on his head. Looking around him, he realized he found himself in the engine room. It was responsible of controlling the whole factory.

"I should probably turn this off if I plan on getting out of here." Luigi said. He walked up to the large engine in the middle of the room and tried to find the "OFF" button. Unfortunately, there was only a small control panel with a keyboard. Luigi had no idea what to do with it.

"Seems you found your way to the engine room." Metal Sonic greeted him. He was sitting on top of the engine. The robot floated down in front of Luigi and pointed the Jeweled Scepter at him. "Any last words before I obliterate you?"

"Yeah...uh...I know this sounds cliche but, you'll never get away with this!" Luigi shouted at him. Metal Sonic nodded, agreeing his words were cliche. Just as he shot one last shadow blast at Luigi, he ducked, causing the spell to hit the engine.

The engine began to emit malfunctioning noises. Loud banging noises and screeching gears were heard. Purple sparks covered the engine and smoke started coming out of it's pipes. Luigi and Metal Sonic slowly stepped back, wondering what was happening with the engine.

Out of nowhere, the engine gave out a bright flash of light and exploded. The explosion was so big it shook the whole Scrap Brain zone. The walls and pipes scattered everywhere. All that was left was a huge, gaping hole in the center of the floor. Metal Sonic and Luigi were no where to be seen.

Who knows what happened to them.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**What could have happened to Luigi and Metal Sonic? Did they survive the explosion? And what challenges await the heroes as they plan on heading to Metal City for the second last Chaos Emerald? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: Originally, I was going to have a another very major event happen in this chapter, but I felt like it would be cramming too much important plot points, and I ran out of room, so I decided to keep it for a future chapter. It won't ruin the flow of the story, unless it happens too late.**

**Luigi's conversation with Metal Sonic was supposed to be both serious and humorous. I think I achieved that. I don't know, what do you guys think? Luigi's is supposed to supply some of the comic relief in this story, while Metal Sonic is the deadly, serious villain. Kind of contrasting with one another, don't you think?**

**Ah well, I'm just happy with the end result: Luigi and Metal Sonic fight through the Scrap Brain zone and end up getting caught in an explosion. What a great ending to a chapter! Action-wise. Not in the fate of the characters though. Maybe they died. HAHA! Bad joke, I know...**

**I've been waiting to announce this, but I'm starting to make a new fanfiction right now. We know that I can't keep this story up and running forever. All good things must come to an end. If you'd like to know more details about my upcoming fanfiction, check my profile to read details about it. I'm sure you guys will be pleased to know what it will be about.**

**Thanks for reading today's chapter and for supporting the story. You guys are the best! Make sure you come back next week and remember to leave a review! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

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_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega respectively~**_


	72. Futuristic!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 72: Futuristic!_**

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_**Metal City, city square**_

On the same main land as Empire City was a futuristic, floating city. The buildings were tall and sleek and built with many windows on the sides. The streets were made out of metal and had lights built in them that glowed in the night. Many floating television screens were scattered around the city, broadcasting news reports or commercials. Floating cars populated the area, allowing citizen to fly their way to any destination in a matter of no time.

In the center of the city was the garden square. The ground was also made out of metal, but it was covered in lush grass and trees. Benches were placed around the square and a large statue of a floating metallic ring was in the center that spun around slowly.

"I've never seen a place like this before. This is awesome!" Yoshi exclaimed as he gazed around the city. The Mushroom Kingdom group was astounded by the unique architecture and technology the city offered. They had no place like this in their world.

"You really don't have anything like this in your world?" Cream asked Peach. She nodded to the young rabbit. Everything in their world was mostly old-fashioned, peaceful and medieval-like, while in Sonic's world everything seemed modern, high-tech and lively. The contrast between the worlds was what made them unique from each other.

Everyone except Knuckles and Donkey Kong were there. The two had volunteered to watch over Wario back at Tails' house while the rest searched for the Chaos Emerald in the city. Who knew what kind of havoc they'd conjure up while staying there.

"Where would you find an emerald in a huge city like this?" Mario asked. He looked to Sonic, who simply shrugged. Mario raised an eyebrow. "You should have some sort of knowledge about the emeralds. You've been searching for for your whole life!"

"Yeah, but it was mostly through convenient ways," Sonic explained, pointing at Tails, who was holding his Miles Electric and checking the emerald radar. "What? You think we're psychic and already know where the exact locations of the emeralds are? Hah! You should know us by now."

"Any luck finding the emerald?" Amy asked as she peered over Tails' shoulder to see the emerald radar. Tails shook his head. There were many frequencies transferred throughout the city, which was interrupting the radar's signal. It would take awhile to pinpoint the location of the emerald.

"Well, this may take awhile. Might as well find something to do to pass the time." Blaze said as she sat down on a nearby bench. She looked up to one of the floating television screens and saw an advertisement for a "Chao In Space 3" movie. Right after the ad, a commercial for an extreme gear was was shown. Something from the ad caught her eye. She quickly told the others to look.

"That's right! 8 contestants will have a chance to race each other and win this fabulous prize!" the announcer exclaimed. On the screen it showed a picture of the White Chaos Emerald. The heroes were surprised to see the emerald. They looked at each other and couldn't believe their luck.

"Well, that was easy!" Yoshi exclaimed, doing a small dance. "Now all we've got to do is win that race!" He scratched his head and wondered where the heroes were supposed to register.

"All willing participants must sign up at the Dolphin Resort Hotel." the announcer explained. "Hurry, as there are only 4 spots left for the race!" The heroes knew what to do. They had to rush to the hotel if they wanted any chance at winning the Chaos Emerald.

Tails used the GPS system on his Miles Electric to find out where the hotel was. It was only a couple of blocks away from the city square. The heroes ran to the hotel, speeding through the streets and avoiding the traffic. They soon reached the hotel, which was a huge, sleek white building that covered two city blocks. There were palm trees planted around the hotel. A logo of a dolphin was above the front entrance.

"Fancy, if you ask me." Sonic said. He and the others walked inside. The lobby consisted of two grand staircases that went to the upper levels. On the sides were the doors that led to the other rooms of the hotel. The registration desk was between the two staircases.

"Excuse me," Tails asked the registration clerk. "Uhm...we're wondering where do we sign up for the extreme gear race?" The clerk simply looked at him and handed him a sheet. It was for the sign-up for the race. There were only two empty spots left.

"Alright, I think it's obvious I'm signing up for this thing." Sonic said, taking the pen and writing his name down. He looked to the others. "Anyone else interested?"

The heroes looked at each other. Suddenly, their eyes went on Mario. He started back at them with a confused look. "I guess I could try it out. Who knows, it might be fun go-karting around a futuristic city."

"Who said anything about go-karting?" Amy asked him. Just as Mario finished writing his name, he said he thought it was a karting race. Amy shook her head. "It's not a go-karting race. It's literally an extreme gear race."

"Extreme gear? What in the world is that?" Yoshi asked. Tails showed him a video of an extreme gear race on his Miles Electric. Mario was surprised the race consisted of riding on hover boards and racing at extreme speeds, trying to bash down the other racers to win first place.

"Oh my, that seems awfully dangerous." Peach commented. Although, back in their world, they held go-kart races that allowed racers to ram each other with items such as banana peels and shells, but it was no where this dangerous as extreme gear racing.

"Don't worry about it, it'll be fun!" Sonic assured Mario, comforting him on the back. "Look, I'll even show you the basics of riding an extreme gear." He looked to Tails and asked him if he still kept their equipment. Tails nodded, saying it was back at his house. The race wasn't until tomorrow night, so he had plenty of time to fetch their gear.

Suddenly, the clerk coughed for their attention. In his hand, he held keys and a pass that allowed them access to everywhere in the hotel. The group looked in confusion. They did sign up only for the race, didn't they? There was no accommodations promised.

"Uhm...I thought we only signed up for the race. We don't remember anything about access to the hotel." Tails asked. The clerk rolled their eyes and showed them the sign up sheet. The title was 'Dolphin Resort Extreme Grand Prix', hinting that the hotel sponsored the race and provided rooms for contestants.

"We can't pass up an offer like this," Sonic said as he grabbed the keys from the clerk. He motioned Mario and Yoshi to follow him to their rooms. The three raced up the grand staircases to the third floor. Passing through a few hallways, they made it to their room, which was 2ZG. Opening up the room, the trio peered inside.

Their hotel room had a futuristic style to it. The ceiling and floors were painted a metallic white, a black leather couch sat across the living room space. A floating steel coffee table was in front of it, along with a huge screen television built with the wall across it. There were stairs across from the trio that led to the kitchen, which had a sleek, steel counters and floating kitchen chairs. The bedroom had two master beds, with a huge window that gave a grand few of the city.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Sonic exclaimed. He jumped onto the leather couch and relaxed himself. First they went to a fun-filled amusement park, now they were enjoying the luxuries of a futuristic hotel? Sometimes, Sonic felt life was good to him.

"I wonder what kind of food they have in the kitchen!" Yoshi exclaimed as he ran up to the kitchen's refrigerator. He was surprised to find nothing there. He looked into the cupboards and found what appeared to be food packets. Taking one out, he read the label. It said, "Microwavable Cheeseburger: Just throw it in the microwave!" Curious, he put the packet in the microwave and cooked it. Instantly, the packet turned into a plate holding a cheeseburger. Yoshi was pleasantly surprised and instantly gobbled his food.

"Wow! This is what I call a hotel room." Amy exclaimed as she and the rest of the heroes entered. They all began exploring the room and trying out the different future gadgets, such as the voice-controlled television and the adjustable bed, among other things.

"I may need to do a little redecorating when I return to my castle." Peach said as she sat on the couch. She pressed a button on the arm rest and her part of the seat began to massage her. "Mmm, this is more like it."

"Hey, don't we have access to the whole hotel?" Tails asked, reminding them. The heroes agreed. Why just stay in their hotel room, when they had a whole hotel to explore at will? The heroes decided to split up and enjoy what the hotel had to offer.

"Come on Blaze, I saw a sign in the lobby saying they had an aquarium in the hotel. Can we please go see it?" Cream asked. Blaze saw nothing dangerous in it, and agreed to accompany Cream. Yoshi overheard them and asked if he could come with them. They were more than happy to have his company.

"Yo, Mario! Let's check out the hotel's bar. I'm actually kind of hungry." Sonic said, patting his stomach. "Although, I wouldn't say I'd be starving like Yoshi. A quick snack could work for me." Mario agreed to come. Just before the two left, Amy suddenly lectured them.

"Sonic! You do realize you and Mario are entering a race, right?" Amy reminded them in a stern tone. "You two need to be in tip-top shape. And you also need to teach Mario how to ride an extreme gear as well!"

"But Ames-" Sonic tried to reason with her, but noticed she had a serious look on her face. Sonic sighed and gave in. "Fine, I guess Mario and I could head to the hotel's gym. But don't think I had forgotten about the race!" He and Mario soon exited the room.

Amy sighed. She sat down on the couch beside Peach, who was still massaging herself in her seat. Why couldn't Sonic ever notice she was mad at him? Why did it seem like he was always oblivious about these things?

Recalling the moment they had back in Carnival Park. She remembered how they briefly cuddled with each other on the bench, only to be interrupted. Amy would have minded it, if Sonic hadn't said "nothing important" was happening.

_Sometimes, I wish I never liked him. Just so he couldn't hurt me anymore_. Amy thought to herself. Deep down, she knew nothing would ever change her feelings for him.

"Why don't we have a little enjoyment of our own and treat ourselves at the spa?" Amy asked Peach. She thought about it for a moment and nodded. Amy helped her up and the two headed for the spa room somewhere on the first floor.

"I guess that leaves me as the loner..." Tails said to himself. He sighed and slowly walked out of the hotel room. He guessed he could use the time to return back home and retrieve the gear for Sonic and Mario.

* * *

**_Dolphin Resort Hotel, inside the aquarium_**

On the first floor of the hotel was where the aquarium was located. It was a long underwater hallway that held many wondrous sea creatures. Some had glistening scales, while others had very large fins. Each creature had many unique characteristics about themselves. Of course, there were also dolphins in the aquarium. The blue water gave the hallway and peaceful, ominous feeling as if you were underwater as well. Which you kind of were.

"Look at that one, Blaze." Cream said, pointing to a jellyfish. This jellyfish had a strange, orange color to it and had a spike-shaped top. She then went up to the glass and stared at the rest of the sea creatures. A blue seahorse swam up to her. Cream giggled, saying how cute it looked.

"Whoa, look at that fish! It's like it has a rainbow on it's body." Yoshi said, pointing to a fish swimming above them. The fish had many different colored scales that brightened the water. Yoshi began to lick his lips. "I wonder what it tastes like."

Blaze paced by the aquarium glass. She wasn't too fond of oceanic life, she had to admit, some of the creatures she saw fascinated her. It kind of reminded her of the creatures she saw while jet skiing near the beach along Southern Island. She sort of missed her home universe. Not having the Sol Emeralds with her meant she'd need to find the Jeweled Scepter to return home.

_I'll do whatever it takes to get the scepter back. And help Sonic's friends return home._ Blaze thought to herself. Suddenly, she heard another voice talking in her head. She was sure it wasn't hers.

Blaze... The voice spoke. It sounded very familiar to her. Blaze, look behind you.

She turned back and was surprised to see someone she had never seen in a long time. Standing before her, was a hedgehog, only with white fur. They wore black and cyan boots with a white stripe. Golden cuffs were worn along their wrists, with a circle marking connected to the gloves. Their hair was standing up in a wild, spiky manner.

"Silver!" Blaze exclaimed. The two went up and gave each other a quick hug. "It's been a while since I've seen you. How is it back in your time?"

Silver was a friend of Sonic and the others. He came from the same universe as Blaze's, but not in the same time period: he came from the future. Silver possessed the ability to travel through time and because of this was how he'd met Sonic and everyone else.

"It's not that good." Silver told her. Blaze gave him a confused look. "Look, I'll explain everything to you later, but now I need to find Sonic."

"Oh hey, Sonic." Yoshi said, waving to Silver. He was surprised to see the hedgehog had suddenly changed his look. He stared at him for a few seconds. "Gee, what's up with the whole wardrobe change? Where did you get those boots? Why is you're hair like that?"

"This isn't Sonic." Blaze explained to Yoshi. He introduced the two to each other. She explained to Silver about Yoshi and his other friend's predicament at the moment.

"Wait a minute, so you are one of the seven?" Silver asked, inspecting Yoshi closely. He nodded his head. "This is so strange. I'd never thought I'd see one. You have a pretty big nose, just to say."

"Thanks..." Yoshi said, annoyed. He then asked what Silver was talking about when he referred to him as "one of the seven". Silver said he'd explain it to him later, but right now he had to find Sonic to tell him something important. Something that was connected to his future.

"He's probably somewhere in the hotel. I would advise you to check in the hotel room we're staying in, but knowing Sonic, he probably left already." Blaze told him. Silver nodded, thanking for her advice. He quickly teleported away from them, desperate to find Sonic.

"He seemed to be in a hurry," Cream said. "do you think something bad is going to happen?" She turned to Blaze, who didn't answer her, only staring down at the floor in wonderment. She had a feeling their own future was in crisis. But what could possibly at stake?

* * *

**_Dolphin Resort Hotel, inside the gym_**

In the hotel's basement was a huge gymnasium. It offered services such as a weight room, a big running track and even various sports courts that could be used for tennis, basketball, volleyball etc. One aspect that made the gym unique was the extreme gear simulator that helped athletes train racing on a virtual extreme gear without the real danger.

Mario was in the room, while Sonic watched from the outside. The room was painted gray and was completely empty, except for the extreme gear in the center. When someone stood on the extreme gear, the whole room would turn into a simulated environment and would make the user feel like as if hey were really riding on an extreme gear.

Luckily for Mario it wasn't real, as he was having trouble steering himself and staying on the moving gear. When he tried jumping, he accidently fell off. If that was a real life situation, he would've crashed into the floating car that he tried jumping over.

"Okay, we need to take a break." Sonic called to him as he opened the door into the simulator. Mario walked out and sat down, exhausted. Training for a hover board race really worked him up. How was he supposed to learn how to ride an extreme gear in a day?

"Why did I even bother signing up?" Mario told Sonic, shaking his head. "I'm-a terrible extreme gear rider! I have no hope in winning the race." Sonic comforted him, saying that only one of them had to win the race to get the Chaos Emerald. It didn't have to be Mario.

"Don't worry, I'm sure with more practice, you'll become an...above average extreme gear rider." Sonic assured him. He helped Sonic up and told him he'd buy them both a beverage at the hotel's bar. Just as they headed on their way, a voice called from behind them.

The two turned back and were surprised to see a white hedgehog standing behind them. Sonic soon recognized his friend. "No way, Silver? Is that really you?"

"Is he a hedgehog as well?" Mario asked, giving Silver a confused look. "He sort of looks like you and Shadow, only with white fur and a weird-looking hairstyle."

"I have feelings, ya know." Silver told Mario. He suddenly recognized him. "No way, I can't believe my eyes. You're also one of the seven from the tablets!" Mario and Sonic gave him a confused look. What was he talking about?"

"As much as it's good to see you again, mind telling us why you're here?" Sonic asked Silver. He began to explain of an impending event that was responsible for the sake of the future.

"In my future, everything is filled with darkness and despair." Silver began to explain. "The sky is always drenched in the dark, the atmosphere if filled with negative energy, making the lives of everyone miserable, and hordes of creatures from the shadows roam the entire planet, destroying everything in sight."

"What a mess that must look like. I suggest you call a maid. Preferably a whole bunch of them." Sonic joked. Silver gave him an annoyed look and told him the situation was serious.

"Listen, Sonic! The only reason this has happened is because of what's about to transpire soon. A race." Silver explained. "The race at the Dolphin Resort is a key factor to what happens in the future."

"I don't get it? Are you saying if we lose this race, the whole future is doomed?" Sonic asked, trying to get the explanation in his head. Silver nodded. The heroes needed to win the race, as it was a key factor to the fate of the future, apparently. "Why is it so important for us to win?"

"I don't know, but it has to do with something about the Chaos Emerald used for the race." Silver explained.

"Can I have a say in this?" Mario spoke up. The two hedgehogs looked to him. "You said something about me being one of the seven on a tablet, Silver. What were you talking about?"

"You are one of the seven star children, aren't you?" Silver asked. Sonic looked at Mario, who had a surprised look on his face. Mario wondered how he knew the term. The last time he was called that, it was from Junior, right before they all got sucked into Sonic's world.

"In my time, we have these ancient ruins located in this isolate island. It was always covered in a forest full of mushrooms and pipes." Silver explained. "Inside the ruins are these tablets that explain a way to enter a portal into a dimension full of limitless negative energy. If one wanted to harness the energy, they'd need the power of seven star children, the seven Chaos Emeralds, the Jeweled Scepter as a key to open a portal and the Master Emerald as a gift to the ruler of the dimension to access the energy."

"That's a lot to take in." Sonic said, scratching his chin. The details Silver explained sounded familiar to him. "Hey Mario, didn't Metal Sonic explain something along those lines to you and the others?" Mario nodded. "Interesting, hey Silver, what happened to the tablets?"

"They were stolen." Silver answered. "We have no clue who stole them, but I was able to use my powers to jump in the same time as the culprit who stole the tablets."

"This all makes sense now." Sonic said. The robot's plan was in full light to the heroes now. "I've got to give credit to Metal Sonic, he sure put a lot of work into this plan of his. I don't think even Dr. Eggman could conjure up a plan like this."

"Metal Sonic? Is he the one who stole the tablets?" Silver asked. Sonic nodded, positive Metal Sonic was up to all of this. "We need to stop him, we can't let him get the Chaos Emeralds."

"Don't worry, me and my friends have five in possession." Sonic said with a grin. "And it's soon going to be six, once we win that race, right Mario?" Mario nodded back to him and gave a thumbs-up.

"That's good to know." Silver said, giving a small sigh of relief. He suddenly gave a smirk. "I guess I wasn't the only one who had the idea of signing up for that race. I want my future to be happy."

"You signed up for the race too? Great!" Sonic said, patting Silver on the back. "This is going to be awesome, the three of us racing! Don't think I'll go easy on any of you though. I am the fastest thing alive, and I'm going to keep that reputation!"

Still, the three heroes were uncertain to why the race was such an important factor to the fate of Silver's future. Was the Chaos Emerald in stake really important, and how?

They would soon find out.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The whole future seems to be at stake, and one single race will determine it's outcome. Will the heroes reign victory, or will the fall? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**A/N: I hope I shed some light to the Negative Dimension plot. It's the main reason why this story has a purpose. Once we get closer to the end of this story, this role of this plot will begin to expand and eventually overtake If you've been paying attention to the clues given throughout the whole story, you'll have good knowledge of this plot.**

**Hooray! Silver appears! I bet a lot of people were looking forward for him. I'm aware he has a lot of fans, but I needed a proper place for him to appear and took the time to figure it all out. All characters need a purpose in the story. And since I had a time traveling element in the Negative Dimension plot, what better way than to also add in Silver.**

**Thanks for everyone's support and for reading this story. I appreciate it! Make sure to come back next week for the new chapter. Bye for now!**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	73. The Race!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 73: The Race!**_

* * *

**_Metal City, Dolphin Resort Speedway Starting Line_**

Crowds gathered near the racetrack, pumped for the race to begin. The starting line of the track was located in front of the resort's entrance. Bleachers were placed all around so people could spectate. A large banner over the top of the starting line, reading "EXTREME" was placed. Balloons and confetti scattered around the area, creating excitement and anticipation in the air. While everyone was waiting for the race to begin, the participants were inside the lobby, getting ready.

"How do I look?" Mario asked the others, posing in his extreme gear attire Peach and Amy had bought him. It consisted of blue pants with red stripes running down each side leg, red and blue sneakers, a red collar jacket with a yellow star emblem on the front and red goggles, replacing his usual red cap. Everyone was impressed by how he looked.

"Dude, that totally beats my boring sunglasses that I wear!" Sonic exclaimed, tapping his silver glasses that rested on his head. He turned to Amy. "Why couldn't you guys get me a super cool-looking outfit like that?"

"I didn't think it'd be important to you." Amy said with a tone of attitude in her voice. It was obvious she was still mad at Sonic, but he was too oblivious to know why.

"Here you guys. These will be your extreme gears for the race." Tails said, handing Mario and Sonic both their gears. Sonic's was his Blue Star III: a blue gear with double exhaust ports on the bottom. Mario's gear was Sonic's old Blue Star model, the one used during the Ark of the Cosmos incident. It was a redesigned sleek, red "T" shaped airboard with a blue streak running across the sides with two orbs built in the back. The orbs supplied easier turning for Mario.

"Wow, this looks cool!" Mario said, carefully handling the extreme gear as he gazed upon it. "I'm-a going to call you the Red Flame!"

"Come on guys, the race is about to start." Silver called at them near the entrance. He wore different boots instead of his usual ones. They had a more sports-oriented look, with light-blue straps and white laces tied at the top. He carried his extreme gear, which was purple and shaped kind of like a wave. He called it the Psychic Wave.

"Good luck you guys!" Yoshi called out to them, waving as they exited the building. "I hope they don't get themselves killed. Hey, let's get our seats now."

Mario, Sonic and Silver rushed past through the entrance path and onto the street, joining the other racers as they prepared for the race to begin. Among the other racers were a green robot wearing a green hat backwards, a person cloaked in a brown robe, a teenager wearing a white motorbike helmet, blue shirt, white pants and a red scarf, and a man in a blue, form-fitting racing suit and a red helmet with an opaque visor.

"Only seven of us? Where's the other guy?" Sonic asked.

"He couldn't make it. Officials say he had his extreme gear stolen." the man in the red visor explained to them.

"Who was supposed to race?" Sonic asked. The man shrugged. He told them it was something along the lines of "hawk", but he wasn't sure,

He raised his hand towards them, shaking theirs. "It's a pleasure to meet the three of you. I am the Falcon! That kid over there is Speed Runner." He said, pointing over to the teenager.

"What about those two? Who are they?" asked Silver, pointing to the cloaked figure and the robot. The Falcon shrugged. He didn't care about the robot, but the one in the robe really seemed suspicious to him. He sat quietly on his floating extreme gear, eyeing the heroes every now and then. His extreme gear had a green and yellow variation to it. Sonic recognized the board. It looked like it belonged to a rogue he rivaled before.

"I'm-a don't know why, but I don't like the looks of him." Mario whispered to Sonic. He agreed with the plumber. Things just didn't seem right about the robed raced. They quickly shrugged him off. What harm could he do to them, anyway?

"Racers! Get into your positions!" the announcer spoke over the intercom. The crowd cheered as the racers aligned themselves. Soon, the race would begin. "Alright, you know the rules: anything goes! You all remember how the track goes, don't you? First, race through Grand Park, then climb your way up Blunt Tower where cannons await for you to launch you across the city. You'll crash through the warehouse, rigged full of laser beam turrets, then out onto Zoom Highway for the final stretch!"

"Oh my! That sounds a lot more dangerous than the races we hold back in our world.":Peach expressed in surprise. She looked down to Mario from the bleachers, praying he wouldn't get badly injured in the race.

"I'm sure they'll make it through. Mario and Sonic have gone through a bunch of danger before, haven't they?" Tails reminded her. His assurance calmed Peach, but she was still worried if he could win the race. This was nothing Mario had ever trained for his entire life.

"Go Silver!" Blaze shouted to him. Beside her, Cream and Cheese were waving a large flag, with the faces of Mario, Sonic and Silver painted on it, with the words, "HEROES" written in the middle.

No one saw, but while Amy was in her seat, she whispered the words, "I believe in you, Sonic."

"On your mark!" the announcer exclaimed. The racers were in a straight line beside each other, their extreme gears in their hands, waiting for the signal.

"Get set!" the racers began to sprint towards the electrified starting line, all hoping for a good head start.

"GOOO!" at that moment, the electricity was cut off from the starting line, allowing the racers to begin their race. The crowd cheered as they all sped off into the streets. Unfortunately, Speed Runner had gone a little too early, and ended up getting shocked by the starting line, losing him valuable seconds.

"Can't catch me!" Sonic exclaimed, quickly overtaking first place. Silver followed him closely behind, with Falcon speeding along behind them. The cloaked figure fought for a place against the robot racer, while Mario trailed behind them, taking it easy not to fall off his gear.

The racers sped through the streets, aiming for their first destination: Grand Park. Once they'd arrive there, they'd have to race through the park, avoiding trees and bushes, aiming to reach the other end. Knowing they had free will in the race, all of them could fight against one another to slow each other down.

As they took a first turn through the city streets, Speed Runner caught up with the bunch. He floated towards Mario and pushed the plumber out of the way. Mario did his best to keep his balance as he slowly floated away from Speed Runner.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Mario yelled at him. Speed Runner stuck his tongue at him and pushed Mario again. Annoyed by his shenanigans, Mario closed in on him and punched Speed Runner right in the stomach, causing him to fall back on his extreme gear and falling behind the others. "Oops...my bad!"

The racers took another turn through the city streets and arrived at the Grand Park. They sped through the park, avoiding any obstacles that got in their way.

"Beep! Boopboopbop!" the robot racer said. It was easily swerving across the park benches and lampposts in the area. Surprisingly, it passed both Silver and the Falcon and was catching up to Sonic.

"Whoa! I shouldn't have underestimated this robot. This guys got some moves!" the Falcon explained. He and Silver began speeding up, attempting to reclaimed their places. Suddenly, the cloaked figure boosted past them and caught up with the robot racer.

"Beep?" the robot racer turned to the cloaked figure. The figure suddenly kicked it off it's board. Unfortunately, the robot was kicked so hard it landed in the park's fountain. It began to spark and shudder from the electrocution.

"Hey! You can't do that! That's against the rules!" Silver called out to him. "Well, actually, there are no rules, but that's just cruel what you just did!" the cloaked figure simply ignored him and sped his way towards Sonic.

The racers had exited the park and were now headed towards Blunt Tower: a large, steel observation tower, shaped as a spike towering out of the ground. There was a pod near the top, where most people observed from. It had a viewing glass, allowing a view from under a person's feet.

Racing towards the tower, Sonic boosted through the streets. The cloaked figure followed closely behind him. They ran through a bridge that led towards the tower and ran above the streets below. Reaching the base of the tower, they racers entered it. They had to race up a spiral track, which had the turns get tighter and tighter as they neared the top. The racers needed to use technique instead of speed to reach the top in a short amount of time.

"Wow, this place is tall! Really tall!" Mario exclaimed as he looked up while racing towards the top. As he was speeding through, he heard someone coming from behind him. Looking back, he saw Speed Runner catching up to him. He had a look on his face. A look of revenge.

"Uh-oh," Mario yelped and began to increase his speed. This was a mistake, as he slowly neared the edge of the track, close by the glass windows. Mario noticed this and slowed his speed. The Speed Runner closely cut the turns and quickly caught up to Mario. In his hand was a pie covered in whipped cream.

"Hey! Where did you get that?" Mario yelled, pointing at the pie. The Speed Runner shook his head and raised the pie in his hand. He suddenly charged towards Mario, intending to throw the pie in his face. Luckily, Mario learned how to use the brakes and avoided the attack. Speed Runner continued on his track, crashing through the glass and fell out of the tower.

"Uhm...sorry!" Mario called down below. He shrugged and continued the race.

Meanwhile, Sonic had reached the top of the tower and into the viewing pod. He stopped and looked around, wondering where the cannons were. He rushed to the other side of the pod and found the cannons, situated towards the open window, aiming out into the city below.

"Cool!" Sonic said. He slowly drove his extreme gear towards the machine when suddenly the cloaked figure boosted by him, pushing him aside. Before the figure climbed into the cannon, he shook his behind towards Sonic, taunting him. He then quickly launched himself through the air, aiming towards their next destination.

"Hey! Did he just taunt me? No one taunts me like that!" Sonic said angrily. He simply stood there, stuck in awe to what just happened. Silver and the Falcon quickly caught up to him.

"Sonic! Why are you just standing there? We need to win this race, remember?" Silver reminded him. He and the Falcon climbed into separate cannons and launched themselves through the air. Getting back into the action, Sonic launched himself out of the tower.

"Whoo! This is tight!" Sonic exclaimed as he flew through the air on his extreme gear. He looked down below, seeing the whole city under him. It looked so small from where he was. Feeling the wind sweeping through his quills, he took the moment to enjoy his time flying through the air. Unfortunately, all that went away when he crashed through the window ceiling of the warehouse, the race's next checkpoint.

Landing his gear, Sonic looked around him. He was in a room full of metal crates and pipes. There was only one exit in front of him. Boosting himself into the hallway, he quickly found himself being aimed by laser turrets on the wall. They shot at him as he sped down the hallway. Sonic used his amazing speed to outrun the laser turret's aims.

"Too easy! Piece of cake!" Sonic exclaimed as he continued speeding through the warehouse hallways.

Silver and the Falcon were neck and neck, fighting for second place. They soon reached the large storage area. It was full of metal crates that were constructed in a maze fashion. It didn't help that laser turrets were perched on top of them, ready to shoot down any racer that passed through.

"Good luck!" the Falcon said to Silver as he turned the opposite direction when they reached an intersection in the crate maze. Silver turned the other way, not knowing he was headed towards a barrage of laser turrets.

"Bad choice!" Silver shrieked. He quickly turned his extreme gear around and fled from the laser turrets, all while they shot lasers at him, barely missing him. He took the path that the Falcon used, speeding past fallen metal bars and more shooting laser turrets. Eventually, he caught up to the Falcon and the cloaked figure.

The Falcon was about to pass the cloaked figure when suddenly the figure jumped off his extreme gear. He jumped on top of the pile of metal crates and grabbed a laser turret from it's position. He jumped back onto his extreme gear and aimed the laser turret towards the Falcon. The turret shot a laser at him, knocking the Falcon off his board and tumbling on the ground.

"That's it! You want to play dirty? So be it!" Silver shouted towards the cloaked figure. He raised both hands in the air. The rings on his gloves began to glow blue as he activated his telekinesis. Suddenly, metal crates began to glow blue as well. They floated into the air and around Silver.

"Take this!" Silver yelled, throwing the floating crates towards the cloaked figure. The figure dodged each crate as they crashed down into the ground. This guy had incredible maneuvering. Silver felt like he was trying to shoot down a moving pin with a bullet. It was impossible.

The two reached the exit of the warehouse and made it back outside in the streets, They made a quick turn, heading towards the final checkpoint of the race: Zoom Highway, a series of roads that floated above the city that twisted and turned around buildings and other roads.

If the sharp turns didn't make it hard to race through, the speeding hover cars made it even worse.

The cloaked figure entered the highway, taking the upper roads, while Silver took the lower roads. He had to get to the finish line before the cloaked figure. He had to win the Chaos Emerald to ensure his future was safe.

At first, Silver wondered why the cloaked figure took the upper road. He soon found out when he barely got hit by an oncoming hover car. He dodged two more. Silver realized the highway he took fought against the traffic. The cloaked figure took the one going along the traffic, making it much easier to race through.

"Dang it! I'm never going to make it in time!" Silver shouted in frustration. Giving up, he floated him and his extreme gear off the highway and onto the railing of it. He knew at this rate, he wouldn't be able to catch up with the cloaked figure.

Back at the warehouse, Sonic had just made it out of the maze of crates. He paused for a moment, wondering how far Mario was from them. He shrugged, remembering they had a race to win. He boosted his extreme gear towards the highway and took the lower road, not knowing the consequence of his choice.

"Whoa! What's up with the traffic! They're going the wrong way!" Sonic yelled in surprise. He jumped over a hover car and continued dodging the rest of the traffic. Suddenly, this huge hover truck sped towards him. Sonic panicked and steered himself off the highway, into the streets below. He fell off his extreme gear, landing hard on the metal streets.

"Ugh...didn't need that." Sonic groaned as he slowly got up. His sunglasses had fallen off his head. He picked them up and put them back on. He looked up onto the highway. There was no way he could get back in time and win the race. Not on his extreme gear at least.

We need a miracle. Sonic thought. Suddenly, a loud boom was heard, followed by a scream. Sonic recognized the scream: it was Mario's. The boom had come from the cannons that shot the racers out of the tower. Sonic looked up and saw Mario flying across the air as he held tightly onto his extreme gear.

Apparently, the cannon had overshot Mario, causing him to miss the warehouse and headed straight into the highway. Mario landed his extreme gear onto the upper roads of the highway, just a few feet away from the cloaked figure.

"Hey! I made it!" Mario exclaimed. He noticed the cloaked figure in front of him. Looking past him, he saw the resort. It was only a few blocks away. "Okie-dokie! Let's go overdrive!"

Mario crouched on his extreme gear and boosted past the cloaked figure. Surprised by the sudden overtake, the cloaked figure boosted his extreme gear at the highest acceleration. He caught up to Mario and the two were right beside each other, fighting for first place.

"And there we have it! Two racers! Fighting for first! Who will win!" the announcer said excitedly. The crowd looked over to the highway and saw Mario and the cloaked figure racing for the finish line.

"That's Mario!" Yoshi exclaimed, pointing towards the plumber. He and the rest of the heroes cheered for him. "Come on, Mario! Just a little more! You can do it!"

Mario and the cloaked figure were side by side, facing each other. Not looking forward to lose, the cloaked figure went up to Mario and attempted to push him off. Seeing this, Mario grabbed his attackers hands and the two tightly gripped each other, fighting it out.

"I'm-a sorry, but I'm can't let you win this race! The future is at stake!" Mario told the cloaked figure as they continued gripping each other tightly. The cloaked figure nodded his head. Suddenly, a red glow came from the shadow of it's face and suddenly, a fireball was spit out at Mario, knocking him off his extreme gear and causing him to fall onto the streets. Mario struggled to get up, but could only watch as the cloaked figure past the finish line.

"We have a winner!" the announcer exclaimed. The crowd went wild and cheered for the cloaked figure. The rest of the heroes were shocked from Mario's loss. They watched as the race officials came out with the prize: the White Chaos Emerald. The cloaked figure went up to them and took the Chaos Emerald, raising it up for everyone to see. The crowd continued cheering. The heroes stayed silent.

The cloaked figure climbed back onto his extreme gear and slowly floated towards Mario. Suddenly, he reached a hand for the hood and slowly took it off, revealing his identity. Mario could only look up in horror to realize who it was.

"You are right Mario. The future _is_ at stake." Junior told him, before fleeing the scene on his stolen extreme gear.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**_The heroes lost the Chaos Emerald - to Junior! Is the future now doomed for the heroes? What can they do now? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!_**

* * *

**A/N: Plot twist! I love them! I bet you weren't expecting that, eh? Go ahead, tell me you were expecting that. You can't, so hah! Unless you somehow knew it was Junior from the beginning. Good for you. I'd give you a cookie, but I don't have one right now. Probably because I ate it. Sorry.**

**Some of you might be disappointed about the Babylon Rogues not appearing in this chapter. I just didn't think they could pull off an important role in the story to justify their appearance. It's sort of the reason why I put Silver instead of them. But I do put a few nods in the story, mostly about a certain hawk. Did you notice them?**

**This chapter was pretty fun to write. It was mostly all action-packed, due to the race taking place. It takes most concepts out of previous tracks in the Sonic Riders series and mashes them into one giant track. It'd be cool to race in this kind of track, wouldn't it?**

**I feel terrible for forgetting this, but about two weeks ago was the story's 2 Year Anniversary. I have to say, I feel honoured in achieving this tremendous feat and it wouldn't be made possible without you guys. I know I say this a lot, but I really mean it: Thank you so much for the support! ****You guys are the best! Make sure you come back next week for the next chapter. Check my profile for updates and such on my stories. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	74. Determination!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 74: Determination!**_

* * *

_**Metal City, Dolphin Resort hotel room**_

It was night time across Metal City. The whole city was glowing brightly with the neon lights and the metallic flash it gave off. It was hours after the race and, greatly disappointed of their loss, the heroes decided to spend the last of their time in their hotel room to relax and try to cope over the fact they had lost the Chaos Emerald.

"I messed up..." Mario told them. He sat gloomily on the room's massaging couch. It vibrated under him, but even the soothing massage didn't relax him. If it wasn't for him, they could have won the race and the Chaos Emerald. Now it was in the hands of Junior.

"It's not all your fault. How were you supposed to know it was him?" Peach comforted Mario, as she was referring to Junior's surprise appearance at the end of the race. It shocked everyone to realize it was him. Peach wondered how Junior was able to enter the city on his own and survive.

"Peach is right, Mario. It wasn't your fault. It was mine." Sonic said, disappointed by himself. He lowered his head. "I was first through the whole race. If I hadn't taken Junior's taunt back at the tower so seriously, we could've won the race. I had underestimated him. Because of me, now our future is in jeopardy."

"Hey, come on, don't be so hard on yourself." Silver tried to comfort him. "We all made our mistakes. Even I made a few wrong turns during the race." Sonic sighed deeply. He suddenly left the room, heading to the pool.

"Come on, Mario. Let's try and get all this depression out of our heads." Yoshi said in cheerful voice. He grabbed his hand. "I saw an ice cream shop across the street. Let's go get something yummy to eat." Reluctantly, Mario stood up from his position and allowed Yoshi to drag him out of the room.

"They really seemed to be bummed out from all of this." Blaze said in a worried tone. "Do you think they're going to be okay?"

"I'm sure they'll cheer up eventually." Cream assured the others. "I guess knowing they put the future at a terrible risk puts them off in a negative mood. I would not blame them. Being responsible for something so tragic can set off one's emotions in the wrong direction."

"But that doesn't mean we can't change it." Tails explained. "The future is what you make it to be. There are endless possibilities to what can happen. We have plenty of time and chances to change that." He pulled out his Miles Electric and switched on the Emerald Radar.

"We can't give up. We can still do this."

* * *

**_Dolphin Resort, near the pool area_**

Sonic sat down on one of the pool chairs, gazing up at the starry sky. He was thinking about the race. He wondered if he could've changed the outcome, had he'd been focusing better. With the Chaos Emerald in Junior's hands, was it true that the future of their world was in danger to darkness and despair? He couldn't shake the thought out of his head, that he was partially responsible for it.

If only... Sonic thought to himself.

"Hey," a voice called to him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Amy a few feet behind him. She slowly walked up to him and sat on the pool chair beside him. "Are you alright? You seemed really down back in the hotel room.

"Why do you care?" Sonic said in an uncaring voice. "I thought you were angry at me and didn't want to talk to me." Amy saw how sad he looked. This was not like Sonic. He was always carefree and happy. Now he was depressed and worried.

"Sonic, I don't know why I'm saying this, but I'm sorry." Amy said. Sonic's ears twitched when he heard her say those words. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "I probably shouldn't stay mad at you, not because I simply couldn't, but so I can ease you out of your problems. I should know why you do these kinds of things. It's because of your personality. It's one of the few reasons why I like you."

"But didn't I hurt you?" Sonic asked her. She nodded. "Why are you apologizing then? Shouldn't I be doing that?"

"Maybe," Amy responded. "But it's not because of what you did, it's because of who you are. If I truly loved you, I would care about you no matter what your personality was. It's because of you being yourself is what makes me care about you." Sonic slowly nodded his head, understanding what she meant.

"Still, I think I should apologize. I never mean to hurt you, ya know." Sonic confessed. "I care about you Ames, but...not at the same level like how you care about me. It's not because I hate, because honestly, I do like you. But if my enemies knew that I did, then they would use you in a way that could hurt me. Nothing hurts me more than to see my friends in pain."

Sonic related to how Mario's relationship was with Peach. They loved each other and people knew it. Knowing this, their enemy, Bowser, used this connection against Mario by kidnapping Peach. Mario was devastated whenever she was tragically hurt. If something like that happened between Sonic and Amy, then Sonic couldn't be carefree as before.

"I'm not strong." Sonic told her. "If I was, then maybe...maybe it could happen. But no...I just can't. You are important to me, Ames. But too important that it becomes my weakness." Amy slowly reached out for Sonic's hand and held it.

"That's all I wanted to know." Amy said.

* * *

**_Metal City, outside the Ice Cream Shop_**

"Are you sure you didn't want ice cream?" Yoshi asked Mario for the last time as they exited the shop. He held both his and Mario's cone: two cookie dough ice cream wafer cones, covered in rainbow sprinkles.

Mario assured him he wasn't hungry. Food couldn't change the fact the future of Sonic's world was in danger, all because he made one single screw up. He wished he could find a way to change it. But right now, he needed comfort. Something that food couldn't fully bring to him.

"Ooohhhohohhoooo..." a voice moaned out of no where. Mario and Yoshi heard the noise. Listening carefully, the heard it once again. They looked over to an alley they were beside. Laying in a scattered waste of rubble and garbage was a man. That man was Luigi.

"Luigi!" Mario shouted in shocked. He and Yoshi rushed to his side and helped him up. Luigi had soot covering his body and parts of his clothes were ripped. "Mamamia! What happened to you?"

"Metal...Sonic..." Luigi moaned to him. Mario quickly sat Luigi onto Yoshi's saddle and the two rushed back to their hotel room. On the way, Luigi started explaining to his brother about the incident in Scrap Brain zone with Metal Sonic.

"You're one of the bravest people I've ever known." Mario said, comforting Luigi. He smiled to his older brother, saying he was glad to finally see him again.

Yoshi barged into their hotel room and rushed to the master bedroom. The other heroes were there and were surprised to see Luigi on his saddle. Peach saw his condition and quickly went to the bathroom cabinets to get medicine for his wounds.

"Luigi! I can't believe you're back!" Tails exclaimed, happy to see him after such a long time. Luigi said the same thing to him. Tails took the time to introduce him to Cream, Blaze and Silver, since they had never met before.

"He looks like Mario, except green." Silver pointed out.

"And you look like Sonic...only silver and with a crazy mohawk...thing.." Luigi responded. Both had gotten the better of each other.

"Hold still while I put these bandages on you." Peach said, wrapping a bandage around his arm. She asked how he had gotten into this state. Luigi wasn't bothered having to explain his whole story again to the heroes. Peach had just finished tending to his wounds when he finished. "I'm just glad you're alright. Don't ever scare us like that, promise?"

Just then, Sonic and Amy entered the room, and were surprised and joyful to see Luigi once again.

"Hey! Luigi! You're back!" Sonic exclaimed. Seeing the plumber again made Sonic forget about their dire situation for a moment. "Gosh, where have you've been? You've missed so much adventures with us. It didn't feel the same without you."

"Luigi has told us some pretty interesting information," Tails told him. He explained everything to Sonic for Luigi. He told him about Metal Sonic finding the Blue Chaos Emerald and the Jeweled Scepter. He told him about their fight in Scrap Brain zone and the explosion.

"So Metal Sonic has a Chaos Emerald as well, and the Jeweled Scepter. Great, doesn't that make things better." Sonic spoke in a sarcastic tone. "Things are really going downhill for us. The future is at stake, and Metal Sonic and Junior are now back to doing their whole Negative Dimension plan. This is really overwhelming us. How are we supposed to handle all this?"

"We have a plan. Me and Silver are going to pursue Metal Sonic ourselves." Blaze explained to the group. "The Jeweled Scepter is my priority. With Silver's help, we can take down Metal Sonic, while the rest of you chase after Junior. That way, we may change the fate of the future."

Hearing this made Mario and Sonic cheer up. Having another chance to change the future was all they needed to hear to put them back into full throttle. They nodded to each other.

"We have a chance to change everything." Mario said. "But this time, we're much stronger, more determined to reach that goal. We can do anything we set our minds to. We will save the world."

He raised his fist in the air. Everyone in the room put their hands on top, vowing to not give up and use their newfound determination to finally put an end to Metal Sonic and Junior's plans. They suddenly began to chant:

_We are the heroes. We will unite and stop all evil from overwhelming us!_

* * *

_**Shamar, within the streets**_

Located within the large, empty desert wasteland is a city. The buildings and palaces were made of strong stone, and water ways were built between the brick walkways. Palm trees were abundant around the street corners. Torches lit up the darkened city. All the civilians were still awake, roaming around the streets. They were celebrating the Hallowmoon event at the time, where they'd become nocturnal during the night.

Out of nowhere, a large, flashing ball of light appeared in the middle of the town's Palm Tree Square. The civilians gathered around it, both mystified and alarmed by it. Suddenly, two shadowy figures appeared in it. One appeared to be a large, turtle-like creature, while the other was a tall, fat man with an egg-shaped body. The two figures jumped out of the flashing light and stood in the center of the crowd.

"Roooaawwrrr!The boys are back!" Bowser growled loudly in the air. His antagonizing roar caused the civilians to flee in fright from them. "Gah! What's the matter? I thought that was a well-mannered entrance, if you ask me!"

"Hohohoh! It actually worked!" Eggman exclaimed in glee. He hopped around in delight, surprised the dimension teleporter they built worked. "I knew my machine could do the trick! All it needed anyway was the right amount of power source.

"Hey, if it wasn't for me to gather all that material for you, that machine of yours would still be a fantasy!" Bowser reminded him. He gazed around the town they landed in. "So...this is your world? I imagined it to be a little more...technical."

"Well, my laboratory definitely is," Eggman explained to him. "We just so happened to land in this dusty old town! I couldn't calibrate our coordinates to a specific area. It would be much too advanced procedure for me to do."

"And I thought you were the scientific genius here..." Bowser said in an annoyed tone.

"Shut up!" Eggman scowled at him. "I'm the one who made the blue prints to the machine! You wouldn't be here without me either, shall I remind you?" He began looking around the city, trying to find out their exact location. "Lucky for us, we landed in Shamar. My laboratory isn't too far from here. If it doesn't hurt you, follow me."

"Ugh, are we going to walk all the way back to your lab?" Bowser complained. He gave a disappointed sigh. Where was the advanced technology in the new world he was in that Eggman bragged about?

It took them a few hours to get to Eggman's laboratory. The had to exit the city, cross through arid sands, climb over dusty dunes and traverse through the ruins of a canyon. Finally, they made it to a large, ancient tomb door at the bottom of the canyon. It had Eggman's face painted on the front.

"Is this it? Is your whole laboratory hidden behind this rock?" Bowser asked, tapping on the door. "Not really impressive, appearance-wise. Doesn't give off that whole intimidating feeling we bad guys are known for. Let me give you a little advice-"

"Shut up and stop criticizing me!" Eggman cut him off, tired of Bowser's criticism. "It wouldn't be called a hidden base if it was all elaborate and out in the open. I'm somewhat secretive, okay?"

"Someone is a little sensitive..." Bowser said under his breath.

Eggman walked up towards a small pillar half-buried in the sand. He pushed on the top, which was actually a large button. The ground began to shake. Suddenly, the tomb door rumbled and moved from it's place, revealing a metallic hallway built inside.

"Home sweet home!" Eggman exclaimed. He entered the hallway. Bowser slowly followed him.

Eggman gave Bowser the tour around his secret headquarters. Since it was built inside the canyons, there was plenty of space to show. Taking him through the hallways, Eggman presented the Hanger room where all his machines were stored, the robot holding warehouse, where all the badniks and fighters were held and last but not least, the main control room, where he controlled everything in the base.

"I've got to hand it to you doc, I shouldn't have judged the book by it's cover, this place is downright awesome!" Bowser exclaimed. He looked over and saw the hovering chair situated in front of the computer screens. Curious, Bowser tried sitting in it, only for his weight to crush it into the floor. "Gah, uhm..I'll pay for this...somehow."

"No worries, I have a bunch more where that came from." Eggman assured him, although he did looked agitated by his action. He walked up to the control panel and opened up a file. It was titled "Project U"

"What's that?" Bowser asked as Eggman opened up the contents of the file. Eggman explained what he had been planning before he was teleported to their dimension. He came up with a super weapon that could revolutionize his world and change who had power, who had control over the population. "Interesting, so it's sort of this world domination thing?"

"Correct," Eggman responded. "I've progressed tremendously from the blueprints. In fact, I'm almost done building it. All I need is a large enough power source to drive it into reality."

"What's up with you always missing the power source? It's like when you buy a remote without any batteries. It's stupid." Bowser argued with him. "Here's the deal, since I like your idea, I'll help you. But I demand half the control once we rule the world. Agree?"

"You drive a hard bargain, but fine. I need you anyway." Eggman nodded, shaking Bowser's hand. He then opened a picture file on the computer screen. "You see that? These are the Chaos Emeralds. This is what will power up our super weapon."

"Cool, so where do we get one of these? The jewelry store?" Bowser asked. Ignoring his witty comment, Eggman pulled up a radar on his screen. He had built a large enough transmitter in his base that could locate the energy of the emeralds. He searched up the energy of the Chaos Emeralds. For some reason, it only pinpointed him to one location out in the Shamar desert.

"Hmph! That doesn't seem too far. Heh, I can easily nab those Chaos Emeralds in no time!" Bowser assured Eggman, although the doctor was puzzled to why it only showed one location.

"Ughh..." a voice moaned. Eggman and Bowser turned back and was surprised to see Orbot and Cubot crawl through the door. They both seemed heavily damaged, as various parts of their bodies were coming loose.

"I hate cannons..." Cubot groaned referring to their embarrassing defeat with the heroes back in Carnival Park. One of his eyes had popped out and was now dangling off his head. "I'm just lucky we landed a few feet away from base. And the sand sort of softened our landing."

"Lucky you, I just so happened crashed into a boulder." Orbot complained to him. His lower body was loosening as he dragged his entire body with only his arms. He occasionally sparked from the damage he took. Looking up, he saw Bowser and Eggman staring back at them. "Boss! Is that you? Or is my circuits playing tricks on me again?"

"Oh! Doctor! I am so glad to see you!" Cubot exclaimed. He quickly dragged himself to Eggman's feet and hugged one of them. "I missed you sooooo much!"

"Who the heck are these guys?" Bowser asked. Eggman explained they were his robot servants he made to help him carry out his plans, although they'd spend more of their time making fun of him instead. Eggman always regretted that decision.

"Just what were you two micro brains doing while I was gone?" Eggman asked them sternly. "And what in the world happened to the both of you? Were you fooling around with my equipment?"

"Indeed!" Cubot explained. "We lost the Interceptor robot in a cave, released all of the badniks out of the warehouse and accidently crashed that new boomerang plane you made. It was all thanks to Orbot! He came up with those ideas. Right buddy?"

"I am so screwed." Orbot said to himself, slapping his forehead.

"YOU DID WHAT?" Eggman shouted at them. He was furious at them. It explained why the robot warehouse was empty and his new plane was gone. He assumed he already kept them in the safety deposit vault, where work was being done with his "Project U". "Why, I oughta kick your metal bottoms for being so brainless!"

"Gosh, if you yell at your robot servants like this, I would like to see your reaction if your kids did ignorant things!" Bowser commented.

"No! Please! You have to understand boss, we had our reasons!" Orbot tried to calm Eggman down. "You see, it was all due to Sonic and his new friends! They've been causing trouble ever since we tried searching for the Chaos Emeralds."

Bowser and Eggman looked at each other, surprised to realize Sonic was already back in their world. Eggman asked who these "friends" Orbot was talking about. He explained it was a strange group of individuals. The only one that they could remember well was one named Mario.

"So Mario and the others are here. How interesting." Bowser said. He suddenly began to growl in anger. Just when he thought he'd got away from the thing he hated the most, they just had to follow him. It sort of made sense to him, since he hadn't seen any sign of them back in the Mushroom Kingdom. He assumed they'd gone on vacation after whooping his butt once again.

"How did Sonic and his friends return to our world?." Eggman spoke. He wondered if it had to do with them building their dimension teleporter back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Was it powerful enough to have also taken the heroes with them as well? That couldn't be right. According to Orbot, they had been tussling with the heroes long before he and Bowser came. How did they get in their world before them?

"We must have been given a second chance to defeat our enemies." Eggman said. "I was hungry for revenge, after what the heroes did to my doomsday machine. I worked hard on it and they destroyed it like it was nothing! Well, this is the perfect time to launch Project U!"

"If you say so. It's been a long time since I've seen Mario. I bet he'd be _happy_ to see me." Bowser said. He had an evil look on his face. He wouldn't miss the chance to pounce his rival once more. He turned Eggman. "I'll get those emeralds you need, while you put on the last touches of that Project U weapon."

"Can we help?" Cubot asked. Eggman shook his head. They were too broken to be able to contribute anything. He directed them back to the laboratory, where he would fix them when he had the spare time. He had a feeling he wouldn't though, as his mind was focused on getting back at the heroes.

_We will defeat those heroes no matter what! Our determination will never cease!_

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**The villains are back in business! What is this "Project U" they are talking about? Will they be able to retrieve the Master Emerald? And what could be next for the heroes? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

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**A/N: It's great to see the reception last chapter received. Glad you guys liked it!**

**Bowser. Eggman. Two of the most dangerous enemies of Mario and Sonic. They have returned. Oh em gee. The tension hasn't been this high in a while, hasn't it?**

**Oh yeah, and Luigi is officially back. Hooray! I almost forgot about him for a moment. Oops! **

**The meaning of this chapter's title is the determination that is shown from all the characters. The heroes may have lost the Chaos Emerald, but are determined to hunt it down and meanwhile, the villains, knowing the heroes are back, are determined to build a new super weapon that may be able to stop the heroes once and for all. Who will succeed?**

**A small hint on the next chapter: it will focus on a certain three we haven't seen in awhile. ;)**

**Thanks for reading and supporting my story. You guys are amazing! Come back next week for more exciting adventures with Mario and Sonic. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

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**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	75. Triple Trouble!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 75: Triple Trouble!_**

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_**Emerald Town, Tails' House**_

It was the middle of the night while Knuckles and Donkey Kong were a movie being presented on one of the channels. "Chaos in Space", a typical sci-fi movie, played on the television screen. The two watched in the dimly lit room, gobbling on snacks they bought from the corner store a few blocks away from were getting a kick out of the action scenes from the movie.

"Whoa! Did you see how he shot that tentacle monster with his laser gun? That was awesome!" Knuckles exclaimed. Donkey Kong nodded as he took a sip from his soda can. Finishing it, he smashed it down with his forehead and tossed it in the recycling bin.

"Mhmmmfff! Mmm! Mmmmmhhmhmhm!" a muffled voiced emitted from the room. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Knuckles turned back and looked behind the couch, seeing Wario squirming and struggling to get out of his tape bounds.

"Hey fartbag, the movie is on, so you mind shutting up until it ends?" Knuckles scolded him. Wario gave him a furious look. He wanted to beat them so badly. "Actually, it would be better if you shut up for the entire night. Thank you!"

"Mmmmmmmhmhm!" Wario tried to shout. He began rolling across the floor non-stop, bashing his body against the couch. He was strong enough to bump the couch forward, hitting it against the table in front of it that held the snacks.

"This is the seventh time he's done this tonight. Can't we just shove him somewhere else?" Donkey Kong suggested. Knuckles nodded and laid comfortably on the couch, signalling Donkey Kong to do the heavy lifting. Sighing, he got off the couch and picked up Wario, who was pretty heavy to carry.

"It's okay. I'm just going to throw you into the basement." Donkey Kong told Wario, patting him in the process. Wario began to scream and shake in Donkey Kong's arm. He wasn't too fond of being stuck in the basement for what could be the rest of the night.

As Donkey Kong got to the stairs, something unexpected happened. Wario had released yet another fart bomb, bigger than the ones emitted back in Carnival Park. The fart cloud shrouded the room and the stench smelled like rotting garlic. Coughing from the odour, Donkey Kong dropped Wario, allowing him to fan away the stench. In the meantime, Wario took the opportunity to roll into the kitchen, intending to find something to release him from his bounds.

"Gaah! What the heck was that all about?" Knuckles shouted in a disgusted tone. Holding his breath, he ran to the bathroom and found some air fresheners. It didn't matter what scent they gave off, it was better than Wario's waft! Taking out two cans, he sprayed all around the room. Donkey Kong helped by flapping away the smoke with the couch cushions. They cleansed off the room within a few minutes.

"Alright! Where is that fartbag? If he's desperate to release all that gas, then I'll be more than happy to beat it out of him!" Knuckles shouted angrily. He and Donkey Kong looked around the living room, unable to find him.

"Haha! I'm free!" Wario shouted in the kitchen. Knuckles and Donkey Kong scrambled to him, astonished that he was free from his tape bounds. He was standing in the middle of the kitchen, a butcher knife in his hand and all the tape scattered around him. Turning to the two, he panicked and held the knife in their direction. "You two are going to pay!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Donkey Kong said. Wario had an evil grin. He suddenly chucked the butcher knife at him. It spun through the air, luckily missing them, and stuck itself into the living room wall.

"Your aiming is terrible." Knuckles made fun of him. He and Knuckles soon lunged at him. Wario quickly turned around and prepared to break more wind. Panicking, Knuckles and Donkey Kong turned around and ran back into the living room, only to realize Wario's waft was a mere puff cloud.

"Err...it looks like I'm out of juice." Wario said, embarrassed. He began rolling up his sleeves. "Gah! Does it matter? I don't need puke-inducing smells when I have brute force!"

Charging into the living room, Wario looked around for Knuckles and Donkey Kong. He was surprised to be tackled down from behind by Knuckles. The two began rolling around on the ground, punching each other.

"Grr, you call that strength? I can barely see the muscle in your boney arms!" Wario mocked Knuckles. He was suddenly found himself under Knuckles and struggled to get him off from him.

"You calling me weak? It's not all about appearances, you know!" Knuckles told him off, punching him in the belly. His punch bounced off his large belly like a tennis ball hitting a wall. "Speaking about appearances, may I say how fat you are?"

"No one makes fun of my weight!" Wario shouted, pushing Knuckles off of him and slamming him into the wall. "You want to play that game, huh? You look like a woman with that girly haircut!"

"Arrrhgghgh! You dare to make fun of my hair? Your mocking a whole civilization of echidnas if you do that, fartbag!" Knuckles screamed loudly. He tackled down Wario once more and the two began to brawl across the floor, bumping against the wall and furniture.

"Heheheh, this is better than the movie." Donkey Kong said to himself. He watched the fight between the two behind the couch as he snacked on some chips. Remembering the movie, he quickly glanced back to the television to see if it was still on. Instead, there was this breaking news report about strange activity spotted in the outskirts of Shamar.

The news reporter explained how a team of acheologists were scouting around the desert when they came across a large, green emerald. They were amazed to see it, as it hand't been there before. One of the acheologists went up to the emerald, only to realize it started sinking into the sand completely. The archeologists believed the emerald sunk into the underground tombs below the sand.

"Hey guys, you might wanna see this." Donkey Kong called out to them. The two ignored them and continued fighting. Tired of their antics, Donkey Kong went up to them and split them apart. "Stop acting like kids you guys! Check out what's on the television.

"No way..." Knuckles said, recognizing the emerald shown on the news report. "It can't be...they actually found the Master Emerald!" He raised his arms in excitement. Finally, he knew where the emerald was. Now he could float Angel Island back to its place.

"Dang, that's what I call one impressive jewel." Wario was overwhelmed by it's appearance. No where in the Mushroom Kingdom had he'd seen an emerald like that. In his mind, he had the urge to have that emerald.

"That's great we know where it is, but how are we going to get to it?" Donkey Kong asked. Knuckles scratched his chin. He kind of knew where Shamar was, but they needed a way to get there. Suddenly, he remembered the Tornado-3 that Tails left in his laboratory.

"Tails might kill me for doing this, but we need to borrow his airplaine. We have to get the Master Emerald. He'll understand once we bring it back." Knuckles assured them.

"You guys are going after that jewel?" Wario suddenly asked them. The two looked at him with curious looks. Wario saw this as an opportunity to get the emerald. He'd quickly came up with a plan in his head. Let the jerks do all the work in obtaining the emerald and at the last-minute, steal it from them.

"Why do you care?" Knuckles asked. "It's not like that emerald has any importance to you." Wario tried to think of a reason to come with them. Suddenly, he fell on his knees and began to plea.

"Arrrgghh! I am so sorry for everything I've done to you. I'm just a terrible person in general." Wario pretended to. "I swear, most of the time I am a good person. Do you know the princess? I helped saved her once with the Mario Bros. Even ask the dumb ape over there."

"It's surprising, but it's true." Donkey Kong said, nodding. "Hey wait a minute, did you call me dumb?"

"And why are you suddenly telling us all this?" Knuckles asked him. Wario tried to convince him to let him come with them to Shamar and help them retrieve the Master Emerald, further convincing them by saying he was strong enough to help them traverse into the

"We might need all the help we can get." Donkey Kong told him. Knuckles gave a long sigh and mumbled that Wario could join him.

"Yay! Thank you for giving me another chance!" Wario hugged Knuckles, who pushed him off quickly afterwards. The grin on Wario's face wasn't for Knuckles' gratitude, but was for knowing a possibility that he could have his own giant emerald soon.

"Alright, you guys wait outside while I fly the Tornado-3 out of the lab." Knuckles demanded them. The two quickly rushed outside. Knuckles began to wonder how he was going to fly the Tornado-3 out like last time with the other planes. He didn't even have the keys to it.

Above the skies of Shamar

Flying through the desert skies wasn't easy. Sand breezed through the air, making it difficult to pilot the Tornado-3. Knuckles piloted the airplane, while Donkey Kong and Wario held tightly onto the wings.

"Gah! What kind of passanger seating is this? I'd rather be taped on that toilet back on the other airplane you guys rode on before!" Wario began to complain.

"Will you suck it up? We're almost there anyway!" Knuckles argued back at him. He looked down, remembering where the Master Emerald was located on the news report. He piloted the Tornado-3 downwards, but ended up overdoing it, causing the plane to tumble down at a dangerous pace.

"Pull up! Pull up!" Donkey Kong shouted in panic. He held tightly onto the wings. Wario unluckily lost his grip and fell off the plane, tumbling down into the sandy dunes below. Knuckles pulled back on the stick as strong as he could and right before crashing, he piloted the Tornado-3 upwards and landed near where the Master Emerald was.

"Phew! That wasn't so bad." Knuckles said, wiping sweat off his forehead. Donkey Kong slowly got off the plane, shaking from the experience. Knuckles looked around for Wario. "Hey, where did he go?"

A few feet away from them, was Wario's legs sticking out from the sand. They shook vigorously as he tried to get out. Knuckles and Donkey Kong grabbed his legs and pulled him out of the sand.

"You suck at flying airplanes, if you didn't know that already." Wario complained to Knuckles as he spit out sand from his mouth. He looked around them, wondering where the Master Emerald was. "So where do we go now?

"I think we have to jump in that giant hole over there." Donkey Kong said, pointing out to a gaping hole in the sand. The hole was in place to where the Master Emerald sunk in the sand. Apparently. the rest of the sand around it sunk into the underground tomb as well.

"Any volunteers?" Knuckles asked, looking back to Donkey Kong and Wario. The two shook their heads and stepped back. Sighing, Knuckles stepped towards the hole. "Fine, if you two wanna be wusses, then I'll be the brave guy."

Crouching down, Knuckles inspected the hole. Sand poured down from all around the edges. The brown, sharp rocks poked out from the sides of the hole. Darkness filled the hole, preventing from seeing what was on the bottom. Slowly grabbing on the edge, Knuckles carefully climbed down the hole. He was an expert at scaling surfaces, but he had to be cautious of the sharp rocks he gripped on.

As he reached the darkness of the hole, Knuckles felt the temperature suddenly sky-rocket. Why was it suddenly hot? Whatever was down there, it emitted a terrible heat. A few minutes of climbing down, Knuckles saw a red light below. Seeing ground, he dropped down to it.

Looking around him, he found that he was standing on a cliff. He peeked down the cliff and was surprised to see the large pool of magma below. On the sides of the cavern, were magma waterfalls pouring into the pool. There were various rocks, stones and pillars in the pool that could be used as platforms. On the cliff he was on was a broken bridge that was supposed to connect to the other side of the cavern, leading to a cavern that lead deeper into the tombs.

"That's hot." Wario suddenly spoke. He and Donkey Kong already caught up with Knuckles. Quickly picking his nose, Wario looked around the cavern. "So, that big green emerald is around here somewhere. Why don't I wait here for you guys while you find it?"

"Nope, you begged to us that you wanted to help, and that's what you're going to do." Donkey Kong reminded him. Wario pounded his fist in frustration, remembering that he indeed did beg. Looks like he wouldn't get the Master Emerald the easy way he had hoped for.

"I can easily glide across this gap, but I don't know about you guys." Knuckles explained. Donkey Kong kneeled down to see the magma pool below. Looking over to the broken bridge, he saw a rope that still dangled from it. Reeling the rope up, he saw it was long enough for him to throw to the other side and use it as some sort of bridge.

"Hey, if you get to the other side, I can throw this rope to you so me and Wario can climb over it and reach the other side." Donkey Kong explained. Knuckles liked his idea. He back up from the cliff and gained a running jump. Using his dreadlocks to trap the air beneath him, he glided across the gap. He didn't reach the other cliff, instead landing on the side of it. Climbing onto it, he motioned Donkey Kong to throw the rope.

"Here goes nothing!" Donkey Kong said. He tied the rope into a lasso and began swinging it. Letting out a mighty grunt, he threw the rope with all his strenght. Knuckles caught the rope, but had to kneel over the edge of the cliff to reach it. Finding a boulder sticking out from the ground next to him, he tied the rope around it.

"You expect me to walk on this over a giant magma death pool? No way!" Wario protested. He crossed his arms in reluctance. Nothing they'd do would convince him otherwise.

Suddenly, Donkey Kong grabbed him by the waist. Struggling to escape his grasp, Donkey Kong grabbed onto the rope with the other hand and hung off it upside-down, using his legs as another from of grip. He slowly shimmied across the rope bridge, while Wario continued struggling.

"Do you want me to drop you into the magma?" Donkey Kong asked him, annoyed by Wario's shaking. Wario calmed down and began scratching his butt. This would be a long time before they reached the other side.

Meanwhile, the magma began to bubble and boil. The pressure in the liquid suddenly exploded. The magma began to bounce around. Magma waves skipped around in the air. Unfortunately, a magma waved skipped up so high it was able to reach the rope bridge. It suddenly caught on fire and began to burn.

"Ahhh! Hurry up! The rope is on fire!" Knuckles shouted, pointing at the fire. Donkey Kong and Wario were only half-way when they noticed the fire. Panicking, Donkey Kong quickened his pace. He had to hurry if they didn't want to scorch to death in the magma pool.

Moments later, the rope broke apart from the heat. Donkey Kong and Wario screamed as they swung down towards the magma pool. Donkey Kong held tightly as they slammed into the side of the cavern. They were lucky to be a few feet above the magma pool.

"What are you waiting for? You're a monkey! Climb!" Wario demanded. Donkey Kong didn't complain. Throwing Wario onto his back, Donkey Kong climbed up as fast as he could, reaching the cliff where Knuckles waited.

"Geez, that was a close one." Knuckles said as he helped the two up. They laid on the ground for a moment to catch his breath. Suddenly, Knuckles felt a source of energy nearby them. "I can sense the Master Emerald near us. Come on, we don't have time to waste!"

The trio rushed through the cavern, passing by fallen pillars anfd jumping over sharp rocks in their path. They were relieved to find no magma in their way. They reached a stone stairway and climbed it, entering another cavern, only smaller than the last one. There were more pillars scattered around the room, only most of them still stood untouched. Lit up torches were attached to the pillars. There was still lava in the room, but it only filled the edges of the cavern.

In the middle of the room was not what the three were expecting. With it's back turned against them was Bowser. Feeling as if he wasn't alone, he turned around and stared at the trio with fiery eyes.

In his hands, was the Master Emerald.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Knuckles, Donkey Kong and Wario have found the Master Emerald, but not before Bowser did! What sort of action will soon follow? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

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**A/N: Things have taken a different approach in this chapter. This time, the three comic-relief characters are the main focus. It's sort of the reason this chapter is called, "Triple Trouble".**

**Well look at this, this story has reached 75 chapter, which means we are 3/4 done. If you know your math, that mean we have 25 chapters left. It may seem like a lot of chapters and we may have planty of time to read them, but things can pass by so quickly that we realize it only after it's too late. We have a long way before the finale, and things are only just getting started.**

**Thanks for reading and supporting my story! Make sure you come back next week for the next chapter! All feedback is appreciated! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

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**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	76. Growing Threats!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 76: Growing Threats!**_

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_**Shamar Magma Tombs, Pillar Room**_

"Long time no see, pals!" Bowser growled at the trio in a sarcastic tone. Knuckles, Donkey Kong and Wario stared back in awe as the koopa king walked slowly towards them, holding the Master Emerald nonchalantly to his side. He grinned menacingly at them, as if he warned the trio not to interfere. "It's so great to see you again, but pardon me as I've got to be elsewhere."

"We'll be happy to let you pass through, but not until you give us back the Master Emerald!" Knuckles shouted at him. Although furious, at the same time he was confused at the sight of Bowser. Didn't Mario and Sonic finish him off back in the Mushroom Kingdom? If he survived and was now in their world, that could only mean Dr. Eggman was as well.

"Why so uptight, red-head? You should be glad to see me after so long. Look at me, I'm so fired up to meet you again! Why don't you?" Bowser mocked them, before spewing a blast of flames at them. Donkey Kong and Knuckles dodged it. Unfortunately, Wario was late for the party.

"AAAUUGH! FIRE! FIRE!" Wario screamed as his clothes caught on fire. He began running wildly around in circles. Donkey Kong clapped his hand together with a mighty force in his direction, causing a gust of wind to extinguish Wario's flames. Relieved, he quickly growled back at Bowser. "HEY!? What's the matter with you, you coo-coo crazy koopa!?"

Ignoring Wario, Bowser suddenly retreated into his shell, stuffing the Master Emerald inside as well. His shell began to spin rapidly and shot itself across the ground, knocking Wario out-of-the-way and fleeing the Pillar room. Knuckles and Donkey Kong gave chase, while Wario soon followed, only after slumping himself back up. The heroes caught up to Bowser back in the lava cavern, only to realize Bowser was already on the other side.

"How in the world did he get there that fast?" Knuckles said, shocked.

"He's a king. You have to expect this kind of stuff." Donkey Kong answered him.

"If you three clowns ever make it out alive, then tell Mario and his buddies that the king has returned and plans to take reign once again!" Bowser yelled at them. The trio were confused about his remark, but soon realized what he was talking about when he jump in the air and stomped forcefully on the ground. The whole lava cavern began to rumble. Rocks and boulders fell from the ceiling.

"Shoot! The whole cavern is going to collapse!" Knuckles shouted in panic. He took one last glimpse at Bowser, who waved goodbye in a mocking fashion, before escaping from the cavern. He intended to leave the heroes behind, trapping them in the lava tombs.

"WAAAAAHHH! We're going to die!" Wario shouted. He was so tense he broke a little wind from his behind. Donkey Kong sensed odour, shaking his head in annoyance.

"Geez! When do you not fart?" Donkey Kong complained, pinching his nose and fanning the stench away from him.

"Shaddup! It's a condition!"

"Will you two cut it out? If you haven't realized it yet, we're in a dire situation and need to get out of here!" Knuckles shouted back at them. The two became silent, waiting for Knuckles to plan their escape. They didn't have much time, so they had to think fast. They couldn't use the rope bridge from before, as it burned down earlier. Looking below, he saw broken platforms and pillars floating savagely in the lava.

"Follow me!" Knuckles demanded Donkey Kong and Wario. Like a wild animal, Knuckles leaped off the cliff they were on and dived towards the floating platforms, screaming with adrenaline as he landed on a platform. He carefully traversed from platform to platform, taking caution of his steps and avoiding the debris falling from above.

"This guy is crazy! I ain't doing that!" Wario gasped as he crawled backwards, away from the cliff edge. He soon found himself dragged into Wario's arms.

"Our sanity might be the difference between life and death." Donkey Kong told him. As Wario kicked and screamed to escape the ape's grasp once again, he jumped off the cliff, letting out a loud roar as he landed on one of the floating platforms. It swayed back and forth as Donkey Kong tried to keep balance. He began platform hopping, cautious not to drop into the lava.

Knuckles made it half way across the lava pool when a huge boulder landed in front of him, causing the platform he was on to crumble. He quickly jumped and glided his way to the next platform. Unfortunately, this left no other platform for Donkey Kong and Wario to use to progress.

"We're stuck! We're done for! Noooooooo!" Wario screamed in horror. He began to close his eyes, waiting for death to approach them. Not thinking, Donkey Kong suddenly chucked Wario to the lava cavern's exit. He overdid the throw, causing Wario to smack against the wall and land on his back.

By this time, Knuckles used his gliding abilities to reach the other end of the cavern. Looking back, he saw that Donkey Kong was in trouble. He came up with an idea. He rushed back on top of the cliff and untied the roped that burned off. Calling out for Donkey Kong, he threw the rope towards him. Donkey Kong jumped and grabbed the rope, just before the platform he was on was destroyed by a huge boulder that fell on top of it. Using all his strength, Knuckles reeled in Donkey Kong to safety.

"Thanks buddy!" Donkey Kong said, quickly hugging Knuckles in gratitude. Suddenly, another loud rumbling noise emitted from the lava tomb. The trio had no time to waste. They rushed out of the cavern, just as the area collapsed. The trio rested in the hole entrance that was still open in the desert

"I'm alive! Wahoo!" Wario exclaimed as he touched himself in disbelief, shocked that all his body parts were intact. He began kissing the ground in "Ooh! I am such a lucky man!"

"No thanks to you!" Knuckles complained as he swept his body off from any remaining debris. "If we needed someone to cower in fear, you would have been the perfect choice."

"Shaddup!" Wario growled back at him. He suddenly flexed his muscles, which were actually quite large. "You see these babies? I am the strongest in my world! Nothing can scare me when I've got these guns loose.

He started to kiss biceps, which sort of freaked out the other two.

"First off, you aren't the strongest in our world," Donkey Kong corrected him. "And second, if you had your guns out all along, why didn't you use them to help us escape the tomb? I practically did all the work to help you escape!"

"Just because you're jealous doesn't mean you've got to try to degrade me!" Wario complained back. He began staring up from the hole. "It looks like while you guys were distracting me, Bowser got away with that big jewel. Good job, boys..."

Soon remembering the Master Emerald, Knuckles scrambled out of the hole and looked around the desert, seeing no sign of Bowser anywhere. He must have fled far away, as he couldn't even sense the energy of the Master Emerald. Frustrated, Knuckles kneeled on the ground and slammed his fists into the sand.

"Don't worry, Knuckles, I'm sure we'll find the emerald someway." Donkey Kong tried comforting him as he and Wario climbed out of the tomb hole. He looked over to the Tornado-3 and gave a surprised look to find it trashed. The whole plane appeared broken, with parts scattered around it. It was also set on fire. There was not question to who had done it.

"Dang it! That crazy koopa got the better of us again!" Wario growled angrily as he rushed up to the destroyed plane. A small flame jumped from the fire and landed on Wario, setting him on fire yet again. "AAAUGHGHGG! I'M ON FIRE AGAIN!"

"Tails is going to kill me..." Knuckles sighed, slapping his hand to his forehead. Overwhelmed by the stress, Knuckles fell back onto the sand. The Master Emerald was gone again, the villains had returned and now they were left stranded in the middle of the desert.

What could they possibly do now?

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails' House**_

The heroes arrived early in the morning after their defeat in Metal City, losing the Chaos Emerald to Junior. This time, however, Blaze and Silver were not with them. Instead, they set off on their own path to pursue Metal Sonic themselves and retrieve the Jeweled Scepter and the Blue Chaos Emerald, while the others searched for Junior for the Silver Chaos Emerald he'd gotten back in Metal City. Following this plan, they had a better chance to prevent the future from falling into eternal darkness and despair, which was already in jeopardy, according to Silver.

"Helloooooo!" Cream called out as they entered Tails' home. To their surprise, no one answered. "Knuckles? Donkey Kong? Wario? Where are yoooouuu?"

"They might be goofing off as usual." Amy suggested. She climbed upstairs and quickly went back down, having a surprised look on her face. "Oh my gosh! I think someone broke in! The whole living room is trashed!"

"You're joking?" Sonic said, climbing upstairs with her to check things out. Sure enough, the room was a mess. The couch was turned over, the lamp was broken, and the television was still turned on. Plus, the room had an unusual fragrance, almost as if someone sprayed a mix of air fresheners around. "Geez, what kind of party did the three stooges hold?"

Suddenly, the two heard a scream downstairs. Thinking there was trouble, Sonic and Amy rushed to the machine basement where everyone else was. Tails was kneeling down on his knees, with Yoshi patting his back.

"What happened?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My Tornado-3 is gone..." Tails spoke in a distressed voice. He pointed to where the plane used to be. Instead, there was an empty space left. The heroes could only wonder what happened last night. Where were the other three? What happened to the Tornado-3?

"I'm sure it's nothing to stress over about. I'm positive you can build another one." Peach tried to comfort him. Tails shook his head at her ignorance of aerospace engineering. Let's just say, building planes was much more complicated than it looked like. Although, he had built three airplanes and a jet fighter already, he wasn't keen into the idea of building them all over again. It was hard work!

"Don't worry! Luigi and I will find your airplane!" Mario assured him. "Who knows, maybe the three took it and are having a joyride around town." He and Luigi left the others to go look for them.

"How many airplanes did you lose again?" Yoshi asked him. He began counting the losses on his finger. "Okay, the first one crashed in Apotos, the second one took a nose dive into a mountain, and the third one mysteriously disappeared. Oh boy, you've got a lost of replacing to do!"

"Please...don't remind me..." Tails said in a disgruntled voice.

Meanwhile, the Mario Bros. were searching around Emerald Town, hoping to find any sign of Knuckles, Donkey Kong or Wario, plus the Tornado-3. They roamed around the park, peeked into each alleyway and gazed up into the sky for anything that seemed out-of-place, like three guys goofing off in a monoplane. All while Luigi was enjoying sight-seeing the town.

"This place is gorgeous!" Luigi commented. Everything about the town and the surrounding environment brightened his mood. Ever since his he regained his memory, he was looking forward to something that would distract him from his 'anti-hero' phase he wanted to forget. "Hey! Let's check the beach over there, bro."

Mario nodded and led them to Emerald Beach. The area reminded them of other tropical areas in their world, such as Koopa Cape and Yoshi's Island. One thing sort of stood out from the area. What was a giant piece of iceberg doing washed up on the beach?

Curious, the Mario Bros. took a closer look. As they approached the glacier, they were shocked to find two bodies laying on top of it. They weren't moving at all, as if they had been frozen solid. Oddly enough, Mario and Luigi recognized the bodies.

"Shadow? Rouge?" Mario said in a confused voice. Luigi looked to his brother, surprised he knew them.

"You know these people as well?" Luigi asked. Mario nodded, asking if hew knew them as well. Luigi remembered his encounter with them back in Spagonia, while he was still under Metal Sonic's mind control. That was a night he wished he had forgotten, especially the pain that came with it.

Mario and Luigi dragged their bodies on the beach and checked if they were still alive. Feeling their pulse, they quickly carried their bodies back to Tails' house. Seeing who they'd brought back, the others helped them carry their bodies upstairs. Rouge was placed in Tails' bed, while Shadow laid on the couch.

"What happened to them?" Cream asked in a worried voice. She was with her, Amy and Yoshi who were checking up on Rouge's condition. Peach inspected her body carefully, noticing how cold her skin was upon touching it. She also had a large bruise on her head. Peach concluded she was severely beaten and was left to die on the floating iceberg where the Mario Bros. found her.

"I wonder who did that to her?" Yoshi asked. His eyes were unusually focused around Rouge's chest area. The sight sort of...fascinated him. He had never seen anything like _that_ before. Noticing his gaze, Amy quickly slapped him on the shoulder and lectured him.

"Yoshi! You already have a girlfriend, remember?" Amy sternly reminded him. "Does Catherine ring a bell?" The embarrassment caused Yoshi to blush.

"Ohh..err..uhhh...sorry..."

"We need to warm their bodies and get them something warm to drink afterwards." Peach said. She called out to Tails and order him to find extra blankets for Shadow and Rouge. He hurried and took a pile out of his closet, wrapping their bodies tightly. Sonic ran to the grocery store and picked up a few items so Peach could make a cup of hot tea for each of them. By the time she was done making it, Rouge was beginning to regain consciousness.

"...sheesh, why do I feel so dizzy?" Rouge complained, holding her hand to her forehead. She looked around her, surprised to see everyone staring back at her. "What are you all staring at? It's not polite to stare, ya know."

"Hey, at least we're giving you eye contact and not staring at something else." Yoshi said. Amy gave him another slap to the shoulder. Rouge noticed Yoshi and gave him a confused look. What in the world was a giant talking dinosaur doing here? Then she thought how in the world she'd got into Tails' bed. It was the last place she'd ever think of being in.

"Mario and Luigi found you on the beach." Sonic explained. Rouge looked over to the brothers. She recognized Mario from Neo Prison Island, but was shocked to see Luigi beside him.

"Hold on...you!" Rouge said, pointing at Luigi and giving him an angry stare. "I remember you! You were working for Metal Sonic! You stole the Chaos Emerald from us! Why I oughta-" She proceeded to get out of bed, but the pain around her body prevented her.

"Why is she all crazy?" Luigi asked, cowering behind his brother. He then remembered "Oh..now hold on a minute! You can't assume I'm completely bad! You don't understand! I was under mind control! You remember, right?"

Rouge recalled their incident in Spagonia. He was right. She even remembered telling him he did have amnesia. This was all so confusing for her. Why was he suddenly with the heroes? In fact, she couldn't recognize half of them. The green dinosaur? A princess? Was she just going crazy over her injuries?

"I should probably tell you what's been going on," Sonic said to her. He explained who Peach and Yoshi were and told her what they had been up to ever since their encounter back in Neo Prison Island. "so does that make any sense? Please say yes. I kind of hate explaining all of this to everyone now. Sometimes I think I should give them a notebook or something to help them catch up."

"I'm not slow, okay?" Rouge said, annoyed. She rested her head on her shoulders. "Seems like you've been through a lot. What can you do, huh? It's what we're born for. To find a purpose and fulfill a goal."

"Speaking of purposes, what were you and Shadow doing on that iceberg back in the beach?" Tails asked.

"Well, darling," Rouge said as she began explaining their encounter with Metal Sonic in Holoska. She told them how the robot stole both the Jeweled Scepter and the Chaos Emerald from them. Expecting a bewildered response, she simply received content stares from everybody.

"Oh, hey, we already knew about Metal Sonic." Mario said, patting Luigi on the back. "My bro already told us. Still, it's nice to know exactly how it happened. But I guess it doesn't change the fact we have a whole weight of problems on our backs. Oh well."

"The amnesic guy beat me to the punch? Is that even possible?" Rouge said, crossing her arms in a disappointment. She sighed and asked about Shadow's condition. The heroes said he was still unconscious. Rouge wasn't surprised. He had fought hard back in Holoska. He probably needed to recover longer than her. She wasn't worried, as he was the ultimate lifeform after all. "So, while I'm bedridden, what are the rest of you planning to do next?"

The heroes looked at each other, remembering what their plan was. Silver and Blaze were looking for Metal Sonic themselves. They had to find Junior. Quickly, Tails took out his Miles Electric and turned on the emerald radar. Junior had the White Chaos Emerald in hand. The radar pinpointed it's place back to Empire City.

"Seems like we'll be going to Empire City." Sonic said. Memories suddenly flashed back into his head. Empire City was where everything all began. the fight with Eggman. The portal that sucked them into Mario's world. No matter how disastrous it sounded, Sonic was a little glad it happened. He had the opportunity to meet new friends and go on all kinds of adventures with them.

"I'll stay here and look after Rouge and Shadow." Peach explained to the heroes. She asked if one of them could stay with her to help her around. Cream volunteered, along with Cheese. "Splendid! I appreciate both of your coöperation."

As the heroes walked out of the room to prepare for their trip, Sonic took Amy aside in the kitchen and privately talked with her.

"Hey, do you mind if you stay with them as well?" Sonic asked. At first, Amy gave a surprised look and began to assume he didn't want her with him. But she remembered their conversation back in Metal City. Sonic responded to her expression. "Look, we've already established that we care about each other. I don't know why, but I have this feeling in my head that things are about to get a lot more dangerous now that Metal Sonic and Junior are on the loose. I don't want to see you get hurt, so please understand. Stay here."

"Okay," Amy said, nodding. "But promise me that you won't do anything reckless." Sonic grinned and simply shrugged.

"You remember who I am, right?"

The two smiled. It was if they both found a comfort zone after their deep talk with one another. Maybe being close friends wasn't all too terrible for Amy. Sonic wouldn't be running away from her from her obsessive affection towards him, while she was getting his attention she's always wanted from him.

"Where could those three have gotten to?" Tails continued to wonder as he stared in his messed up living room. The only thing that they fixed was the couch, where Shadow was resting on, still unconscious. Mario called to him, saying they had business to take care of.

"Let's-a go. We have an emerald to get back!" Mario reminded him. He, Sonic, Luigi and Yoshi headed back to the Star Fighter parked outside. The four thought getting the emerald wouldn't be that difficult, just unnecessary.

After all, it would be a lot easier to fight him instead of his father, right?

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Heading to Empire City, will the heroes be able to find Junior and take back the Chaos Emerald? And what will happen to the trio that are now stranded in Shamar? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: Reading the response from last chapter, it seems some are confused to why Bowser has the Master Emerald. I think the answers can be found on Chapter 74: Determination! Just to save some time, it's all in contribution to Dr. Eggman's "Project U". What is it all about? You'll find out soon.**

**If anyone's interested, I've added the title names to the rest of the chapters of this story, all the way up to 100! Although, some names have been blocked to avoid any spoilers to future plotlines to the story. **

**As I always say, thanks for all your support. Reviews are appreciated! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

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**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of both Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	77. The Manuscripts!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 77: The Manuscripts!**_

* * *

_**South Island, Marble Zone ruins**_

A few miles north of Green Hill zone was a large valley surrounded by a mountain range. Due to the low sunlight emitted through the dark blue clouds, they mountains appeared to be a deep purple colour on the surface. A lush forest with tall trees covered most of the valley area, but hidden on the surface were ancient marble buildings, with collapsed columns and statues.

Marble Zone was known for it's dangerous underground complex. It was like a twisted maze, filled with many traps, crumbling platforms and crushing spiked weights. A significant factor of the area was the boiling lava pits, both find above and under the surface. Traversing through the maze was no easy task, and one wrong move could lead even the most experienced explorers to their deaths.

"This area holds many hidden secrets unknown to the public of this time." Metal Sonic spoke. He was in a hidden room deep within the underground complex. The area was located behind a wall, on the other side of a lava pit. To get to the area, you'd need to break through the wall with a powerful enough force. No explorer was able to find the area, due to the lava pit interfering in their way and having no equipment necessary to break the wall.

Finding the area was easy for Metal Sonic. Having the ability to shoot lasers benefited him, even with the Jeweled Scepter and a Chaos Emerald in hand. Plus, he possessed knowledge of the room through a future travel. Literally.

Metal Sonic walked around the hidden room. It was a wide hallway, with sturdy pillars on the side. A pathway led to the end of the room, where a large mural covered the wall. In front of the mural were stone manuscripts, carved with ancient messages on them. Metal Sonic gently touched the manuscripts, already knowing what secrets they held.

"With these manuscripts, I have the ability to possess the needed power to dominate not only this world, but the other world as well." Metal Sonic spoke to himself. He was the only one who knew the manuscript's context at the time. He wouldn't have known where to have found the secret chamber if it weren't for a manuscript he'd stolen from the future. That very manuscript he had showed him the location of the hidden chamber he was in, which held the information he needed to open the Negative Dimension.

The chamber was the very place that inspired him to begin his plan to open the Negative Dimension and take control of the unlimited negative energy. He found out of the area after he had stolen the Jeweled Scepter, intending to simply use the artifact itself to destroy Sonic.

While testing it's powers, he accidentally unleashed it's time-travelling abilities, finding himself inside of a museum of a future time line. After exploring it, he found the manuscripts that explained him what the Negative Dimension was. All he needed was to find the location of the chamber, where they were originally found, as they held the name of the spell needed to open the portal.

_The key that opens the doorway to the world of darkness and despair lies within the seven sacred emeralds, whose powers can only be unlocked through the sacred children of the stars._

Metal Sonic knew the emeralds in that manuscript referred to the seven Chaos Emeralds. But the sacred children of the stars? What were they referring to? Confused, Metal Sonic had looked over to another manuscript, hoping to shed more light.

_A world, ruled over by mushrooms, contains the knowledge of the sacred star children. _

Knowing the seven Star Children were not in his world, but lived in another, made sense to Metal Sonic. But a world ruled by mushrooms? At first, Metal Sonic thought it was a ludicrous, until he actually found the world: the Mushroom Kingdom. He wondered, how he was going to find the Star Children.

_The emeralds are attracted to the presence of a star child, as if their energy yearns to fuse with one another._

Deciphering the message, Metal Sonic realized the Chaos Emeralds would light up when close to a Star Child, as shown when he had found Junior. Remembering of his accomplice, he wondered where Junior was. Out of the Star Children he found, Junior's emerald was the only emerald that didn't flash around him. Was it because he wasn't a Star Children?

"There has to be an explanation of this." Metal Sonic said. It may be an answer to why when Junior performed the ritual to open the dimension, it didn't work and instead transferred them to his world.

_Offering a grand treasure to the ruler of the dark world ensures control of the power within._

To Metal Sonic, a treasure meant a jewel, while grand meant big in size. He had the perfect treasure to offer to whatever "ruler" was in the Negative Dimension. The Master Emerald.

Having the needed items in possession, there was one more manuscript he didn't read at the time. Looking it over, he still did not understand what it meant, or what significance it had to the ritual.

_Once positive and negative balance, the world equals the energy within itself and must dissipate to prevent massive obliteration to all worlds. _

What was the manuscript talking about? Positive and negative balancing each other out? Massive obliteration to all worlds? How did this relate to the ritual? Was it talking about something else related to the Negative Dimension?

Once he read all of the manuscripts, save for one, all he needed to know was the ritual procedure. This was where the mural came in. Depicted on the wall was how the ritual was supposed to happen. It showed seven emeralds, each being held by the seven Star Children. They were formed in a circle, with the grand treasure in the centre of them. After reading the spell to open the Negative Dimension, a portal would appear to it.

"_A world where darkness lies in every corner. A world where only vicious beings and evil forces exist. Lead us into a world cloaked in destruction and despair. Open up the door to the Negative Dimension" _was what was inscribed below the mural. Saying this spell would open the portal.

"Once I have everything needed, I will rule over everyone!" Metal Sonic said. He wondered how he was going to get back the Chaos Emeralds, find the Master Emerald and find the Star Children in order to get to the Negative Dimension. Ever since Luigi regained his memory, he was left with the Blue Chaos Emerald himself. How was he going to get everything back?

"I need all the help I can get. Even if I know I'm going to despise doing this." Metal Sonic thought. He came up with a new plan while during his stay in the hidden chamber. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly felt an uncontrollable energy overtake him. He lost control of his body and suddenly slammed against a pillar in the room. Metal Sonic floated back in the air, regaining control. "What is this sorcery?"

"Hey, metal head! Down here!" Silver called out. Metal Sonic looked down and saw the hedgehog with his hands aiming at the robot. He had used his psychokinesis powers to throw Metal Sonic into the pillar. Beside Silver, was Blaze, who had flames igniting from her hands, preparing for battle.

"What are you imbeciles doing here?" Metal Sonic shouted, surprised by their presence. "How did you find me?"

"We were able to find your location by focusing my senses onto the energy of the Jeweled Scepter." Silver explained. He nodded his head towards Blaze. "Actually, she focused her senses. I just followed her."

"Give us the Jeweled Scepter." Blaze yelled at Metal Sonic. "It doesn't belong to you. It belongs in my dimension, where you stole it."

"Why must you imply I stole it? It is terrible to assume. I could have been simply borrowing it." Metal Sonic toyed with them. He floated back down and pointed the Jeweled Scepter at them. "I am assuming you know what my plan is."

"Whatever you did to make that happen, I won't let you do it again!" Silver said in a determined voice. The only thing he was sure about was Metal Sonic stole the manuscripts from a museum, and that event alone shrouded his time line. with darkness and despair. "Where are the manuscripts? I demand them back!"

"You mean these manuscripts?" Metal Sonic said. Suddenly, he waved around the Jeweled Scepter, causing the manuscripts to appear in front of him. All of a sudden, Metal Sonic charged his laser on his stomach and destroyed the manuscripts with one shot. Silver and Blaze looked with shock.

"What's wrong with you!" Silver angrily shouted at him. He unleashed a "Psychic Knife" attack, shooting a blade of psychokinetic energy towards Metal Sonic. The robot dodged the attack and shot a ball of dark energy from the Jeweled Scepter. Blaze reflected the attack by creating a wall of fire around him and Silver.

"Take this!" Silver shouted as the wall of fire disappearing, He used his psychokinesis to pick up Metal Sonic and threw him against the mural. Metal Sonic landed on the manuscripts, causing one of them to land near the heroes. Blaze picked up the manuscript and read it.

"Once positive and negative balance, the world equals the energy within itself and must dissipate to prevent massive obliteration to all worlds." Blaze gave a confused look. What did that mean?

"Blaze! Put that down! We've got to fight Metal Sonic!" Silver reminded her. He shot another Psychic Knife towards Metal Sonic, who shot through the energy using his laser cannon. Metal Sonic began charging himself with electricity and suddenly flew past the two, using his V. Maximum Overdrive for the speed. Silver used his telekinesis, covering himself in a cyan blue light and flew through the air as well.

Blaze quickly put the manuscript she picked up back with the others. Curious, she quickly read over the manuscripts. "So this is how he figured it out."

Flying through the underground complex, Metal Sonic and Silver fought in the air, shooting psychic blasts and laser shots at each other, whilst avoiding the traps. Metal Sonic pointed the Jeweled Scepter to a row of spikes and used his own psychokinetic powers to take them out of the ground and shoot them towards Silver.

"When it comes to psychic abilities, I'm the best!" Silver exclaimed, deflecting the spikes back using his own psychokinesis. He threw the spikes backwards, causing him to turn his back. Metal Sonic took the opportunity and used the Ring Spark Field attack. The electricity shocked Silver, causing him to fall to the ground, a few feet away from a lava pit.

"I will get rid of you like how I will soon finish off Sonic." Metal Sonic said intimidatingly. He floated to the fallen Silver and pointed the Jeweled Scepter at him. "First, I will paralyse your body with a wave of electricity. Then I will cast an intoxicating spell into your brain, causing you to suffer from severe headaches that will slowly deteriorate your mind. Afterwards, once you are begging for your life, I will unparalyze your body, only to inflict a spell that will imitate a thousand knives puncturing through your body, slowly killing you!"

"Noo!" Blaze shouted. She caught up to the two. Seeing what Metal Sonic was about to do, she quickly waved her hands towards the lava pit near them, causing lava to pour out of the pit. The lava shaped itself like a huge fireball and shot itself at Metal Sonic, causing him to catch on fire. Metal Sonic tried shaking the fire off of him. He decided to escape from the underground complex.

"Silver! Are you okay?" Blaze called out to him, running to his side. Silver nodded and slowly got up, thanking her. Blaze smiled. "Don't mention it. Now come on, we can't let Metal Sonic get away."

The two quickly rushed out of the underground, climbing out into the surface. They looked around for Metal Sonic, but didn't see a signal sign of him around the ruins.

"Great! We lost him!" Silver shouted with anger and disappointment. Now what were they going to do? The manuscript was destroyed, so there was no point in trying to retrieve it anymore. And they'd have to find Metal Sonic all over again, which was a lot of hard work.

"Hold on, Silver. I can still sense the Jeweled Scepter nearby." Blaze said, trying to calm him down. He pointed south in their direction. "He's headed over there." Relieved, she and Silver sprinted after Metal Sonic.

"Silver, did you get a good look at those manuscripts?" Blaze asked him. Silver shook his head, not even remembering seeing any other manuscripts except for the ones Metal Sonic destroyed. "Well, I don't think we completely lost the manuscripts Metal Sonic disintegrated. How exactly did the museum find those manuscripts in the first place?"

"I don't know, I guess they found it in some ruins..." Silver explained. He began to remember something in the museum. The exhibit for the manuscripts explained it was found in a few ruins, located on South Island. The same island they were on.

"You don't get it, don't you? You're so naive." Blaze said to him. Silver told her to get to the point. "I read those manuscripts back in the chamber. They read the very same thing that the manuscripts read that Metal Sonic broke."

"You're kidding? We just saw Metal Sonic destroy them in front of us!" Silver reminded her. Blaze shook her head. Metal Sonic had stolen the future version of that manuscripts. The same manuscript was still left in the Marble zone's hidden chamber, still left to be found in the future. "That's crazy. No, that's great!"

"You still don't understand, don't you?" Blaze explained. Silver listened. "If you know the basics of time-travelling, everything runs in an infinite loop. What's meant to happen, happens. That means Metal Sonic will still get the manuscripts in the future. He will shroud your world in darkness...no matter what."

"No...no...you're wrong. We can still change the future. It's still left open for us in the present. We can't give up!" Silver said, frustrated. Their only choice was to capture Metal Sonic, take back the Jeweled Scepter and Chaos Emerald, as they originally planned.

As long as Metal Sonic didn't get the other emeralds, they had plenty of time.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**Metal Sonic still has the Jeweled Scepter and Chaos Emerald! Will Silver and Blaze be able to catch him? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: First off, I'm glad of the positive reaction of last week's chapter. Seem's the direction I've taken in that chapter pleased everyone. I'm happy about that! **

**The point of this chapter gives more of an explanation to Metal Sonic's plans of opening the Negative Dimension. Yes, in this continuity, the Marble zone has a connection to the dimension itself. I chose this area as an important plot point because I felt it was a good enough area to expand within the story. In the games itself, it was just another level. But now, it holds much more significance.**

**Fun fact: no Mario characters show up in this chapter. All focus goes to Metal Sonic, Silver and Blaze.**

**The reason this chapter may appear short is because I'm trying to stretch the events of the story over the period of the remaining chapters. And I guess the length of this chapter can give you guys more time for yourselves afterwards. I feel like I'm making each chapter a little too long than necessary. Hopefully this will benefit both the readers and myself. Less work for all of us!**

**Thanks to everyone who has supported. I know I always say that, but I really mean it. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related materials. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	78. Rematch!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**_Chapter 78: Rematch!_**

* * *

_**Empire City, atop the rooftops**_

Just like any other day in Empire City, traffic was booming. Busy citizens were walking from destination to destination. If you've been to any busy city, you knew how it was. This had to be the life to a certain individual, who struggled to adjust to it. They were unfamiliar to the area, and was only brought to it due to a mistake he had made in the past.

That person, was Junior.

"Man, this place blows!" Junior complained as he sat on the edge of a tall rooftop building. The area was his home for the past few weeks. On top of the rooftop, was his "belongings", his extreme gear, his mangled cloak and the Silver Chaos Emerald.

The day Junior landed in Empire City, he didn't know what to do. He had landed within the park's lake. Citizen's gathered around to see the koopaling climb out, all point fingers at him, wondering who he was. The surprising change in setting caused Junior to panic and all he did was run away, trying to figure where he was. There may have been over a million people living in the city, but it made Junior feel lonely, not knowing who any of them were. He took refuge on top of the very rooftop he sat on.

All Junior focused on was surviving that day. He didn't want the help of the people, afraid they might take him in custody since he was so different. To hide his identity, Junior stole a cloak from an elder, ripping it so it was unrecognizable and could fit him. Afterwards, he spent most of his time in the city stealing food from shops, restaurants and others to survive. His actions made him notorious to the police. Whenever he was confronted by them, he had to fight.

"I want to see my papa again." Junior grieved to himself. His loneliness began to affect him when he starting thinking of his father, who he wanted to see more than ever. He needed his guidance, his protection in this unfamiliar world.

Junior turned back, seeing the Silver Chaos Emerald behind him. He remembered the journey he went through to get it. After he had stolen what would be his lunch for the day, Junior noticed an advertisement in the city's square about an Extreme Grand Prix. When he saw the Chaos Emerald at the end of the advertisement, he instantly remembered about the ritual, the event that teleported him to this strange world. Desperate to return to his world, he decided to enter the grand prix and take the emerald for his own use.

Noting the grand prix was being held in Metal City, Junior stole a map of the mysterious world he was in from a corner stand. Following it's directions, it took Junior days to travel to the city without transportation. When he arrived, he tried to sign-up, but was informed he needed an extreme gear.

Thinking an extreme gear was a go-kart, he stole one from the city's mechanic shops. The sign-up manager, confused of his vehicle choice, showed him a picture of an extreme gear. Junior wondered where he was going to find an extreme gear before the race. Luckily, when he exited the resort, a group of what appeared to be birds passed by him, riding on extreme gear. Knowing what he had to do, Junior followed them and waited for them to sleep, and stole the extreme gear from the green hawk.

Everything else was a blur to him. Junior was overwhelmed having to learn to ride an extreme gear, only mastering the skill on the day of the race. When he lined up at the starting line, he was shocked to see Mario and Sonic entering the race as well. Numerous thoughts came to him. Where did they come from? How did they get here? Junior was sort of glad he recognized someone, but he had to hide his identity from them, so he covered his face with the cloak throughout the entire race.

Junior knew the heroes wanted the Chaos Emerald. But he knew he wouldn't give them the chance to. So he had to play dirty in the race. And he won.

"I have the Chaos Emerald now, but I don't know what to do next." Junior said to himself. He never learned to control the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, so what help did that to for him? And if he wanted to return to his world, he would need the other Chaos Emeralds, not to mention the Jeweled Scepter and Master Emerald. Junior should have thought of this plan more thoroughly.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Junior hissed in frustration. He had no good use for it, so why should he keep it? He paused for a moment, looking over the city. He raised his hand holding the Chaos Emerald. He was about to throw it when...

"Surprise!" a voice called out to him. Junior looked up and was surprised to see a gold jet-fighter flying above him. Falling from it, was Sonic and Mario. The two landed on his rooftop. Junior was surprised of their sudden appearance. How did they find him?

"Mario? Sonic? What are you doing here?" Junior growled at them.

"Oh you know, we just came to say hi and take the emerald away from you." Sonic answered. Junior gave him a furious look. Nothing fueled his anger more than seeing the heroes.

"Well, too bad! I'm not giving it to you!" Junior shouted. Out of no where, he shot a fire ball at the two, who dodged it with ease. Junior took the opportunity to scramble to his extreme gear and activated it, fleeing from the rooftop with the Chaos Emerald in hand.

"Does he really think he can escape from someone as fast as me?" Sonic asked, "Well, at least he was smart and used the extreme gear to escape." Sonic quickly jumped off the rooftop and chased after Junior.

"Hey! Wait a minute! How am I going to catch up?" Mario called to him. Sonic was too far away to hear him. Mario groaned and soon chased after them at a slow pace compared to the other two. Meanwhile, back in the S-Fighter, Tails was in the cockpit, while Luigi was watching the action below from the passanger area. He noticed how Mario needed some sort of help to have a chance at catching Junior.

"Yo Tails! Do you have something that can make Mario fast?" Luigi called out to the fox. Tails answered, saying he did. He told Luigi to go to the back of the fighter and take out the red extreme gear Mario used during the Extreme Gear Grand Prix. Luigi rushed and got it. "Okay, so how do we give it to him."

"Simple. You jump." Tails answered. He pushed open a button, which opened the door of the S-Fighter.

"...you're joking, right?" Luigi asked. Tails shook his head. Luigi looked out of the door, seeing how high the drop was to the rooftops. He gulped and asked Tails if there were any parachutes.

"If I did, don't you think I would've given them to Mario and Sonic already?"

"Good point..." Luigi said. He looked down again, couldn't believing he was about to jump out of a fighter. Taking a deep breath, he jumped, holding tightly onto Mario's extreme gear. Luigi screamed as he plummeted towards the rooftops. Unexpectedly, the extreme gear activated and boosted through the air. Luigi held on tightly as he flew in the direction towards the other heroes.

Junior was boosting across the rooftops with his extreme gear. He occasionally looked back, seeing that Sonic was slowly catching up to him. "Come on! Why can't this thing go any faster?"

"You're mine now!" Sonic exclaimed, jumping from one rooftop to the other. He was just a few feet away from Junior when suddenly he was stopped in his tracks by Luigi, who he knocked into with the extreme gear. The two tumbled across a rooftop, while Junior continued on, laughing at their fall.

"What the-Luigi! I had him right there!" Sonic groaned at him, before getting up and resuming chase.

"S-sorry." Luigi apologized, only to realize "Geez, a guy tries to help out and all you get are complaints." He got up, dusting the extreme gear. He looked around, wonder where Mario was. "Hey! Mario! Where are you? I've got something that can help you!"

"What?" Mario asked, causing Luigi to jump in fright. How was he able to sneak up behind him so fast? It didn't matter. Luigi explained he wanted to give something that would help Mario chase after Junior. "Hey, thanks bro. You're the best!" Mario started the extreme gear and chased after Sonic and Junior.

"Great...now what do I do?" Luigi said to himself. He looked up, seeing the S-Fighter chase after the other three. Luigi tried waving to Tails to pick him up, but the fox didn't see him. He scratched his chin. He didn't want to feel left out from the chase. Luigi peeked down from the building rooftop, seeing a parked green-convertible on the street. It's keys seemed to be left in the ignition. "Wow, nice wheels!"

"Get away from me!" Junior shouted back to Sonic. He turned and shot more fireballs at him. The hedgehog easily swerved, dodging the fire balls. Sonic eventually caught up to him. Just as he went to grab Junior, the two fell off the edge of the rooftop, landing into the streets below. Sonic landed hard on the ground, while Junior kept going, avoiding the traffic on the street.

"Probably should have watched where I was going." Sonic moaned, slowly getting up from the street. A car from behind him began honking it's horn. Sonic shrugged to him. "Hey! I just fell off a building! Give a guy a break!"

"Yahoo!" Mario exclaimed as he flew off the rooftop and landing into the streets below with his extreme gear. He accidentally landed on top of someone's car, breaking the windshield. The driver got out and shook a fist at Mario. "Oops, I'm sorry!"

"Things seem to be heating up!" Sonic exclaimed, running to get back to the chase.

Junior was swerving by traffic, jumping over cars and dodging trucks to avoid getting knocked out. Behind him, Mario was doing the same, and eventually caught up with the koopaling. Seeing him, the koopaling turned to the sidewalk, stopping to face Mario. "I told you! I'm not going to give back the emerald! Not with out a fight."

"How about a race?" Mario suggested. Junior gave him a confused look. Mario looked around, pointing

"What? Are you crazy?" Junior shouted back to him. Mario nodded, and pointed to a tall, spire building with eagles statues pointing from the corners of it. Junior recognized the building. It was one of the first buildings he saw when he entered the world. He would always stand atop one of the eagles and enjoy the view from it. Mario wanted to race there? Fine. He knew a shortcut anyway. "Al right, you're on!"

Junior didn't give Mario time to countdown, as he quickly boosted his way into the building's directions. Rolling his eyes, Mario boosted his extreme gear and gave chase.

The two boosted across a long street, avoiding traffic along the way. They made two turns, before getting to an area where a red spotlight was on. Disregarding traffic rules, Junior sped past it, causing panicked drivers to swerve and crash into each other. A big pileup happened within the intersection. Mario hesitated, wanting to stop and help the civilians, but knew he had to beat Junior to the eagle building.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Sonic called out, landing on top of a car a few feet from the crash. He pointed to the eagle building. "You've got Junior to handle with! I'll help these people."

Mario nodded and resumed his race with Junior, carefully avoiding the pileup. He boosted across the street until he caught up to Junior. Seeing the plumber, he shot a few fireballs at him. Mario easily dodged them. Frustrated, Junior looked around. In front of him, he could see a mother pushing a baby stroller across the street. Giving a devious grin, Junior boosted towards them, taking the baby out and throwing them in the air.

"Mamamia!" Mario shouted in shock. He quickly boosted forward and jumped off his extreme gear, catching the baby in the air and landing on his back. He looked over to the baby, who was safe and sound. He gave it back to the mother, who thanked him greatly. Mario quickly got back to his extreme gear and resumed the race. "That Junior will do anything to win."

Catching up to Junior, Mario was about to take a right turn when he realized Junior kept going forward, boosting past a huge mall's parking lot. Curious, Mario followed him. The two zipped into the mall, which surprised a lot of visitors inside. They raced through the clothing department, taking sharp turns past clothing racks, and found themselves in the mall walking area, where the shop entrances were at. They took a few more turns through the mall, until coming across an open area where there were escalators at the side and a glass elevator in the middle.

Noticing the elevator, Junior had an idea. He stopped momentarily to align himself in front of the elevator and shot a barrage of fire balls at the bottom, causing it to catch on fire. At that moment, there was a young couple going down the elevator, unaware of the fire below.

"What are you gonna do now, plumber?" Junior called back to Mario, who just caught up to him. Mario noticed the fire and the couple in the elevator. Junior laughed and sped his way out of the mall. Mario knew what to do. He couldn't leave the couple to their possible death.

Mario charged the boosters in his extreme gear. Once it was full power, he boosted towards the glass elevator, only to jump backwards from it seconds before it crashed, breaking the glass. The couple screamed in horror from what was happening. Mario jumped into the elevator with them, picking both of them up. He jumped back onto the ground, just as the elevator reached the fire. Luckily, the mall security arrived minutes later, with fire extinguishers to put out the fire.

The young couple thanked Mario. He smiled at them until the left, turning back to the destroyed elevator. He shook his head, disappointed towards Junior's actions.

"Heheh! That plumber wanted a rematch so badly? Too bad for him, I gave him something to do while I escape with the emerald." Junior said to himself as he exited the mall, seeing the eagle building a few blocks away from him. Junior boosted towards it. It looked like he would win this race.

Just as reached the street, a car suddenly sped by, crashing into Junior. It knocked him off his extreme gear, causing him to fly across the street and crash into a lampost, falling into the ground afterwards.

"Oops..." Luigi gasped as he realized he crashed right into Junior. He jumped out of the convertible he "borrowed" and ran towards the koopaling. He was alarmed to see that Junior wasn't moving at all. Luigi called out his name, but he didn't answer. "Oh no. Nonononono! Please! Speak to me!"

He crouched down and rolled Junior onto his back. He started doing CPR on the koopaling, pushing his hands on Junior's chest, hoping that he would wake up. When Junior didn't, Luigi rested his head onto Junior's stomach, praying that koopaling would be all right. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

"GET OFF OF ME!" Junior shouted. He kicked Luigi off of him and got up. "What's wrong with you? Were you driving the car that crashed into me? Why I oughta-". Before Junior could attack, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and started to float in the air. Junior struggled to escape the mysterious grasp. "Hey! Let me go!"

Looking behind him, he realized that Metal Sonic was holding him. Both Junior and Luigi were shocked to see him. Before they could say anything, a huge shadow covered them. The S-Fighter was floating above them.

"Insolent fool!" Metal Sonic growled. He aimed the Jeweled Sceptor up towards the fighter and shot a purple spell at it. It hit the fighter, covering it with purple electricity. It disappeared, and suddenly the S-Fighter began to swerve around the air uncontrollably. It flew over the buildings and out of sight, before a loud crash was heard.

"What did you do?" Junior asked him. Metal Sonic did not answer. Suddenly, the two were engulfed by a sparkling purple light. Before anyone knew it, the light flashed, teleporting them away from the city.

Luigi was left there, bewildered to what just happened. Around him, people were screaming and panicking from all the chaos that occurred in their city. Luigi snapped back into focus. Metal Sonic, Junior and the Chaos Emerald were gone. There was nothing he could do now. All he could do was check on Tails, who was still in the S-Fighter when it crashed.

Jumping back into the convertible, Luigi sped through the streets, to where the S-Fighter was.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**The S-Fighter has crashed with Tails inside! What will the heroes do now? And Metal Sonic has Junior! What does he plan to do with him? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: EDIT! Wow...I just realized I totally forgot about Yoshi in this chapter. How stupid can I get? I'm going to have to make this up next chapter. Sorry to the Yoshi fans. I guess I was focusing too much on the action I disregarded him. I feel terrible. :(**

** It was nice to put Luigi back into the action with the heroes after _such _a long time. You can see from the race between Mario and Junior who holds sight of humanity more than the other. It's a nice contrast I added between the two characters. **

**I've got an update for you guys. I'm now planning to contribute THREE more stories to fanfiction. I will be releasing two Pokemon fanfics and another Mario fanfic for the time being, although not immediately. I've been yearning to make stories outside the Mario/Sonic franchise, and I feel like it's the right time to start. What better way to do so than with Pokemon? **

**Check my profile for more information on them, such as what they will be about and when I intend to release them. They will be under the "UPCOMING STORY CHAPTERS" section, the same place where Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite chapters are. I'm sure if you've enjoyed this story, you'll also enjoy my other ones I have planned. **

**I hope you guys enjoyed this weeks chapter. Thank you to all who have supported me. It means a lot! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of both Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	79. Foresight!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 79: Foresight!**_

* * *

_**Empire City, Central Park**_

"Did you hear that?" Silver called to Blaze. The two were on the rooftop in Empire City after chasing after Metal Sonic from South Island. The two had lost the robot and were frantically looking for him when all of a sudden they heard a loud crash coming from the distance.

"I think something happened over there." Blaze said, pointing in the direction to Central Park. Thinking it was Metal Sonic's doing, the duo jumped across the rooftops and reached around the area. They were shocked to see the S-Fighter had crashed in the area. The front dug deep into the ground, while smoke was coming out of the engine. Luckily, no one seemed to be hurt from the accident.

"What's going on here?" Silver shouted in bewilderment. He floated towards the crashed fighter, while Blaze jumped down and ran towards it. They tried opening the doorways, but to no avail. "The doors must be stuck. Hold on."

Motioning Blaze to back away, Silver pointed his hand towards the S-Fighters door. It was suddenly outlined by a cyan aura and the door popped out, gently placed on the ground. Silver and Blaze rushed into the fighter, seeing if any of the occupants were okay.

"Tails! Hey, are you alright?" Silver called out to him, seeing he was unconscious in the cockpit. He carefully carried him out of the fighter and laid him on the ground outside. "Blaze! I need your help!"

"Hold on," she called back. Blaze was searching through the passenger area. She was wondering where everyone was, as the whole area seemed area. Hearing a noise from behind the food bar, she peeked behind it. "Yoshi?"

"WAAAHH!" Yoshi shouted in surprise. He was huddled behind the food bar, munching away on all the food. He had been doing that ever since the heroes chased after Junior for the Chaos Emerald. "Oh, hey Blaze. You seem to be okay."

"What happened here? Why has the airplane crashed?" Blaze asked. Yoshi shrugged. He hadn't been paying attention to what had happened recently, as he was busy trying to bloat himself again. He was surprised that everyone else

"Did everyone leave me or something?" Yoshi asked, seeing the empty fighter.

"C'mon! Wake up!" Silver pleaded at Tails' body. The fox wouldn't answer him. Desperate, Silver took a deep breath and focused all his energy on healing Tails. Positioning his hands above him, a blue wave of psychokinesis covered Tails. Soon, his body began moving.

"Yikes...that didn't feel good." Tails groaned as he sat up. He looked around him, and could only noticed the damaged S-Fighter in front of him. He gave a horrified look. "Oh my gosh! My airplane!" He stood up, completely ignoring Silver, and went to see the fighters damage.

"...your welcome." Silver grumbled in annoyance.

"Hey, since when did we land in the park?" Yoshi asked, peeking his head out the S-Fighter. He and Blaze climbed out. Meanwhile, a green-convertible parked near the park. Luigi quickly jumped out and headed towards them.

"Mamamia! What in the world happened here?" Luigi asked, shocked to see the mess. He noticed Blaze and Silver were there as well. "Hey, why are you guys here? Aren't you supposed to be chasing down Metal Sonic? I saw him over at that eagle building there if you wanna know."

"We were trying to find him when we came across this mess." Silver explained to him. "And what are you guys doing here? I thought you were chasing that Junior kid!" Luigi explained they found Junior in the city, and would have gotten the Chaos Emerald if Metal Sonic didn't interfere with them.

"I like how you are trying to put the blame on us, when it's obvious it's _your _fault for not catching Metal Sonic in time." Luigi complained, giving Silver a bold look.

"Hey! If you caught Junior earlier, we probably wouldn't have been here in the first place!" Silver argued back. The two locked eyes at each other. Blaze simply shook her head in disapproval.

"Will you two shut up and stop arguing?" she asked. "Does anyone even know where Mario and Sonic are?" Everyone looked around, seeing the two heroes no where in sight. "Can anyone even tell me what was going on before Silver and I got here?"

"As I said, we were fighting Junior to get the Chaos Emerald when Metal Sonic interrupted us and took him away. That wasn't until after he shot at the S-Fighter with this magic spell and caused it to crash." Luigi explained. He suddenly eyed Yoshi, only just noticing his presence. "Hey! Where were you during all this?"

"Uhm...I don't know." Yoshi spoke in a guilty tone. "Where were you...?"

"Guys, I think we have much more important things to worry about." Tails suddenly spoke, coming out of the S-Fighter. He had checked the engine and instead of finding a Power Star, he found a smaller, silver coloured star in it's place. He showed it to the others. "Metal Sonic somehow shrunk the Power Star. I think the colour tells us its power is drained."

"Lemme look at that." Luigi said, taking the Silver Star from him. Luigi recognized the star from his previous adventures back in the Mushroom World. "Well hold on, I don't think the power is drained. I think Metal Sonic just split the Power Star into five smaller Silver Stars."

"Well, where are the other stars?" Silver asked. Luigi shrugged. He assumed the rest scattered across the city, as they couldn't have gone too far. Silver groaned. "How terrific. Oh well, good luck with that guys!"

"Silver!" Blaze shouted at him as he tried to sneak away. "I'm assuming you're walking away to go look for the other Silver Stars, like how good samaritan is. If not, then would you like me to convince you otherwise?"

"Fine, fine! We'll help you look for the other Silver Stars." Silver mumbled. The group split themselves into groups. Blaze and Silver would look in one half of Empire City, while Luigi and Yoshi would check the other half. Tails would stay with the S-Fighter and check over any repairs that would be necessary.

If only the were aware of the imminent danger that was to overcome them.

* * *

_**South Island, Marble zone**_

"Ugh..." Junior moaned. He had a big headache. He sat up, finding himself around the ruins of a temple, with fallen pillars and statues around him. Junior panicked, wondering how he got there. Just then, a purple flash of light emitted in front of him. Metal Sonic appeared, holding the Jeweled Sceptor in his hand.

"After a long time, we meet again." Metal Sonic greeted Junior. At first, the koopaling didn't notice him, until he remembered about the battle back in his papa's castle.

"You're that robot. The one who pretended to be this shadow figure!" Junior said, pointing at him with anger. "It was because of you that my papa lost the battle with Mario and Sonic! Youi destroyed his Doomsday machine!"

"Why must you show anger towards me? I simply did it in order for us to follow through with our plans to possess the power of the Negative Dimension." Metal Sonic told him. Junior protested, saying there was no way they could get to the Negative Dimension anymore. He complained he had no will to go there anymore after his attempt

"I just want to see my papa again." Junior whimpered.

"You have already lost vision of our plan? You think we cannot enter the dimension anymore?" Metal Sonic questioned him. "I am uncertain of what you did when you commenced the ritual, but whatever you could do, it would have never worked anyway."

"What do you mean?" Junior asked, suddenly interested.

"You were missing one simple component, the seventh Star Child. After much thinking through this, I realize it is not you who is the Star Child, but your father." Junior's eyes widened in shock. How was this possible? All this time he thought he was a Star Child. Metal Sonic gave his explanation. All the Chaos Emeralds would react to the presence of the Star Children by giving a bright sparkle around them. This was supported by one of the manuscripts:

_The emeralds are attracted to the presence of a star child, as if their energy yearns to fuse with one another. _

Thinking about it, it made sense to Junior. Remembering an occurrence at his castle while Bowser and Eggman were building the Doomsday machine, the emerald began to glow when Junior entered the same room as them, and it stopped when he left.

"So what if I'm not the Star Child? My papa is no where with us." Junior reminded Metal Sonic. "And if he even was here, how would we get the emeralds for the ritual? We only have our two Chaos Emeralds."

"I have a plan," Metal Sonic assured him. "and I'm going to need your help with this one. Are you ready?"

* * *

_**Empire City, within the streets**_

Silver and Blaze were walking on the sidewalk in Empire City's Square. The area was the most busiest area in both the city and the world. With many pedestrians crossing through the area, the bumbling traffic, not to mention the numerous billboards and signs that covered the buildings, it was a place that never seemed to be at a calm.

"how do we find a Silver Star out here?" Blaze asked, bumping through citizens. Being mostly an anti-social person, large crowds like this made her nervous. "I really doubt the star is here anyway. Maybe we should check somewhere else."

"C'mon Blaze, we have to check every inch of the city. You know how big this place is." Silver told her. The two had just escaped the crowd of people, making their way to a crosswalk. Many cars were blocking their way, waiting for the lights to change. "Aww man! Are you serious? Now we've got to wait?"

"Maybe you should try pushing them away with your telekinesis." Blaze jokingly suggested. Silver scratched his chin, thinking over of the idea when he saw something off the corner of his eye. Floating above a tax, was a Silver Star!

"Hey! There! A Silver Star!" Silver exclaimed. He jumped in the air and floated towards it, causing some people look in awe. He went to go grab it when the Silver Star fled, floating towards the centre of the square where the traffic was at it's bulk. It caught Silver off-guard, causing him to lose focus and fall onto the taxi. The man argued at him.

"You just had to be clumsy." Blaze spoke to herself. Taking things to her own manner, she hopped across the roofs of the cars. It wasn't surprisng that many people got out, causing the traffic to become more stressful for others. Soon, everybody was honking their horns, screaming at each other.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'll be you something later." Silver apologized to the taxi driver. He looked over and saw Blaze in the middle of the street, cars honking at her to get out of the way. Silver floated to her. "Geez, can you believe these crazy taxi drivers?"

"Uhm, we may have a problem." Blaze told him. She pointed to the ground. There was a manhole there. Silver asked what was wrong. "I should probably tell you? While you were spitting words with that taxi driver, the Silver Star somehow trapped itself under the manhole."

"What do you mean somehow? Ah, forget it. C'mon, help me get this manhole out." Silver said. He used his powers to levitate the manhole out. He was about to jump in when Blaze protested.

"Eww! Are you serious? I am not going down in there!" Blaze complained in a disgusted tone. Silver gave a confuse look. "What's wrong? You should know that sewers and women don't really mix."

"So I've got to do all the work. Let the men do it! Psshh...women these days. They be lazy!" Silver joked at her, jumping into the sewers. Realizing what he said, Blaze couldn't let him get away with the statement. Reluctantly, she climbed into the sewer.

The sewers were dark and grimy. The only light emitting the area was from the manhole. The sides had areas where you could walk without touching the sewage water, which ran across the middle and had a green-look to it, not to mention the stench that could compare to one of Wario's wafts.

"Do you see the star?" Blaze asked with her nose plugged. Silver nodded, seeing the Silver Star floating near the corner of the area they were in. The two headed towards it, only to be stopped by buzzing noise behind them. Turning back, they were surprised to see a swarm of Aero-Cannons heading towards them. There seemed to be almost hundreds of them!

"Huh?! Where did they come from?" Blaze

"It doesnt matter! Let's get the star and run away!" Silver shouted. He grabbed the star and the two began fleeing from the unexpected badnik swarm. They had to find an exit soon, otherwise they'd have to take on the swarm head on.

They were unaware this was only a small dose of what was about to come next.

* * *

_**Empire City, Eagle Towers**_

Meanwhile, Luigi and Yoshi had already spotted another Silver Star. It was at the area where Luigi last encountered Junior and Metal Sonic. As they drove by the Eagle Towers, Yoshi spotted the Silver Star up on one of the eagle statues. Right now, the two were in front of the building, pondering on how to get it.

"Why don't we try jumping up there?" Yoshi suggested. Luigi shook his head. Even though they were amazing jumpers, none of their techniques could help them reach that kind of height.

"I have the best solution!" Luigi said, smiling. He ran into Eagle Tower, with Yoshi following behind. Looking around the lobby, he spotted an elevator. "Yahoo! I was right." He pushed himself into the elevator, which already was crowded with people.

"Seriously? Is this what us heroes have to resort to?" Yoshi spoke. Sighing, he walked in, squeezing himself between two women. He smiled embarrassingly. "Heheheh, hi!"

The whole elevator ride was aggravating. Not only were you cramped between a group of people you had no idea were, but the ride itself took forever to got through, not to mention the terrible music that played.

The two haven't truly suffered real pain like this before.

"Oh, thank goodness that's over!" Yoshi exclaimed as he and Luigi tumbled out of the elevator and into a hallway leading to a floor full of offices. Workers looked at them, giving them strange looks.

"Uh, don't mind us! Keep working!" Luigi told them. The two headed to a window near the corner, which just so happened to be within someone's work area. The worker began to argue, so Luigi had to calm them down. "Just let us through, we're trying to save the world here."

After squabbling words at each other, the worker, furious, left to find their boss. The two heroes shrugged and opened the window. It was just below the eagle statue of the building. The Silver Star simply floated on it.

"Alright Yoshi, go get it!" Luigi exclaimed, pointing out to the window. Yoshi raised his eyebrow at him.

"Nonononono. I'm not going out there. What if I fall?" Yoshi complained. The two argued who should go out, only to agree both would. Carefully climbing out of the window, they grabbed on the side of the rooftop, climbing on top of it. They slowly walked onto the eagle statue. Yoshi stuck his tongue out, grabbing the Silver Star. "Got it!"

"Good. Now let's get out of here." Luigi said. Before they moved, they heard a hovering noise behind them. Looking back, they were surrounded by a group of Aero-Chasers.

"Gah! How did they find us?" Yoshi shouted in surprise. He stepped back, accidently slipping off the eagle statue. Luckily, he grabbed onto the statue's beak with both hands. "Aaahah! Luigi! Help me up!"

"I'm kind of busy." Luigi shouted back to him. He jumped in the air, dodging an Aero-Chasers laser. He kicked back one of them, making them crash into the side of the building and fall to the ground. One Aero-Chaser caught him off-guard, shooting a laser to his feet as he landed and causing him to fly backwards. He fell off the eagle statue, but not before grabbing onto Yoshi's legs.

"Waah! Hey! Let go!" Yoshi told him, shaking his feet. Luigi looked down and panicked, seeing how high they were. He tried climbing back up, but to no avail. He did not want to end being a scrambled egg on the street.

The Aer-Chasers narrowed in on them and shot their lasers on the statue, breaking it into pieces and sending the two falling to their doom. The two screamed as they fell. It seemed like they were down for, but not until Yoshi got an idea. Taking Luigi's hand, he shoved him onto his saddle and began to flutter his legs as quick as possible. No matter how tired he felt, he had to keep going if they wanted to survive.

Suddenly, their descent began to slow. The closer they got to the ground, the slower they fell. The two safely landed in the middle of the street, with Yoshi falling down from exhaustion. Luigi began kissing the ground in relief.

"Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Luigi chanted. Yoshi simply gasped heavily, very tired from the fall. Never had they avoided death this close in a long time.

"HEY! That's the guy who stole my convertible!" a man suddenly shouted, pointing at Luigi. "Don't try running away from me, you arse! I SAW YOU!"

"Geez, these people don't have a lot of manners, don't they?" Luigi said to Yoshi, who simply shrugged. The two quickly got up and started running towards the direction of the mall. Luigi looked up to the sky, seeing that not only were the Aero-Chasers flying down after them, but the weather suddenly changed from the bright and sunny atmosphere to a shrouded, cloudy sky.

"Hmm, looks like a storm is about to settle in. How wonderful..."

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**The heroes have found three Silver Stars. Requiring two more to reform the Power Star, they continue their search. But what is the explanation of Eggman' badniks suddenly appearing? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: First chapter of September. That means school begins again. I'm gonna miss summer. Dang it, why can't it be longer? Oh well, that won't discourage me from making more stories! **

**I'll just throw this in and say my upcoming stories won't be close to as long as this story, which is supposed to be 100 chapters long! It's a lot of work creating plots and character development that spans over _that _many chapters. More information for each new story can be seen on profile. I just want you all to know in advanced.**

**Oh yeah, as I said last chapter, I'd totally forgot about Yoshi. Heheh, oops. But he's in this chapter now, so that makes it up. **

**Hope you guys enjoyed reading this week's chapter. Thanks for everyone's support. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	80. The Storm!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 80: The Storm!**_

* * *

_**Empire City, inside the mall**_

"Is everybody okay?" Mario asked as he checked around to those near the destroyed elevator. A crowd had gathered around the area from the accident Junior caused earlier. Mario, being the good samaritan he was, he wanted to make sure everyone in the building was safe.

"I can't believe the kind of acts Junior had to go through just to win a race." Mario said to himself as he rushed through the mall, trying to figure out which way Junior fled. Causing a traffic collision in an intersection, putting an elevator on fire while a couple was on it, and throwing a baby out of it's carriage was extreme for Junior's actions.

He was slowly turning into a savage tyrant. Close to the point of surpassing his father's deeds.

The thought of that made Mario shiver. Junior was the son of Bowser. Sooner or later in the future, he would take over for his father. And if he didn't take the throne, Bowser had seven more _koopalings_ to select from. Mario couldn't be the Mushroom Kingdom's savior forever. Not even his brother could take the role much longer after that. Who could the Mario Bros pass the torch to?

"Mamamia! I'm-a thinking _way _ahead of myself!" Mario breathed out. "I'm-a need to focus on the task at hand first."

_TWINKLE!_

"Huh? What was that?" Mario said, surprised. He thought he saw a twinkle from the corner of his eye. He went over to the mall's indoor fountain and gave a confused look. Dipping his hand into the water, he took out what he thought was a Silver Star. "How did this get here?"

Mario knew Silver Stars only appeared when the energy of a Power Star was split. The only Power Star known in this world was the S-Fighter's. Mario recalled of the loud explosion heard from the mall while looking over the citizens. Could that have meant something?

"I should check how the others are doing." Mario said, stuffing the Silver Star into his pocket. He headed for the mall's exit when a shout was heard from the second floor.

"Come on, Yoshi! Run faster!"

"I think we lost that crazy lunatic. None of this would've happened if you didn't steal that guys convertible!"

"That's not who I'm afraid of!"

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" Mario called up to them. Noticing him, Luigi and Yoshi jumped down to him. They had panicked looks on their faces. "Don't tell me you guys caused trouble again?"

"Well, yes and no." Luigi answered. "If you see a guy asking for his stolen convertible around here, don't ask me." Mario simply gave him a confused look. "Anyway bro, that's not the worst of our problems. There's a bunch of badniks chasing us right this minute!"

"What?"

"Look! There they are!" Yoshi pointed up to the mall's glass ceiling. At that moment, a group of Aero-Chasers came crashing through it, breaking the glass and scattering pieces all over the floor. The heroes had to cover themselves from getting cut. "Uh-oh, now they have to pay for it!"

"BZZZTT!" one of the Aero-Chasers sparked. Outside, the weather had changed from a bright and sunny day to a heavy downpour of clouds. Rain fell through the broken glass and into the mall. That didn't stop the Aero-Chasers from shooting lasers at the heroes.

"Watch out!" Mario shouted as he and the other two jumped out of the laser's ways. The Aero-Chasers shout all around the mall, struggling to get a hit on the heroes. Chaos soon erupted as the whole area became bombarded by laser firing and panicked citizens.

"Take this, you hunk of junk!" Yoshi shouted as he shot his tongue at one of the Aero-Chasers, swallowing it whole and spitting it out into the air, causing it to crash into the floor. Yoshi proceeded to do the same with another Aero-Chaser, this time spitting it towards the fallen one and destroying both of them. Yoshi stuck his tongue at them."What's _my_ name! Yeah!"

"WAAAAHHHAHAHAA!" Luigi screamed in terror as an Aero-Chaser chased him around the mall's fountain. The badnik's lasers only fell short of zapping Luigi with it's attack. Desperate to lose it's tail, Luigi ran into a furniture store. Looking around, he found a large, king-sized bed and hid under it's sheets like a scared child. "Phew! He'll never think to find me here."

"BZZZT!"

"WAAAHAHAHYAYA! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Luigi yelled, kicking the Aero-Chaser away from him. The badnik was knocked into another bed opposite of it. Using it's lasers, it destroyed the entire bed in one shot. Looking around, Luigi was no where in sight.

"BZZZZT...?"

"Hey, buddy!" Luigi shouted. The Aero-Chaser turned around, seeing Luigi had canister vacuum cleaner strapped behind his back, with the motor pointing towards it. Luigi turned the power on to _SUPER SUCK._

"BZZT! BZZZT!" the Aero-Chaser sparked in panick. The vacuum's suction was so powerful, it caused the badnik to fly towards it, trapped onto the motor.

"Oh. Uhm...this might be a tight fit." Luigi said, trying to shake the badnik into the vacuum. Obviously, it didn't work. At the same time, another. Aero-Chaser flew into the furniture store and snuck behind Luigi, preparing to shoot at him. Luigi turned around and, panicked, accidently switched the vacuum from _SUCK _to _BLOW. _

The Aero-Chaser stuck on the vacuum was suddenly shot forward towards it's comrade. The collision was so powerful it caused a small explosion within the store. Luigi flew out back into the mall from the force and landed in the fountain.

"Gee, that's the last time I'm housecleaning ever again." Luigi groaned as he took the vacuum off him, placing it on the floor. The manager of the furniture suddenly came out, all covered in soot, and screamed at Luigi for his stupid actions. "Oh, come on! Gimme a break! I just saved your store from robots!"

"HIYA!" Mario shouted, jumping on an Aero-Chaser and slamming it into the ground with his feet. He turned around and grabbed another Aero-Chaser by the legs, swing the badnik around and tossing it into the fountain, making the badnik short-circuit in the water. "That was the last one, I think."

"I hate to tell you this Mario, but you're kind of wrong." Yoshi said, pointing up to the mall's broken glass ceiling. Mario turned to look and gave a horrified look. Flying towards the mall, was another swarm of Aero-Chasers, but this time there were almost hundreds of them. The heroes had never seen this many before at once.

"M-Mario?" Luigi called out to his brother. He was freaking out on the inside to how much Aer-Chasers were coming this way. "What do we do now?"

"We have to protect the people in here." Mario turned to the other two. Yoshi gave him a determined look and nodded, while Luigi gulped and slowly put the vacuum back on himself. The heroes prepared for the long battle to come.

* * *

_**Empire City, within the streets**_

"Hmph! Terrific! Now the rain is getting worse!" Sonic grumbled in annoyance. He was running through the streets as the rain became much more heavier than it used to be. The skies had grown much darker. It was as if a storm was coming. A dangerous one at that. Sonic was running through the streets, wondering where Mario and Junior were at.

"I'm just glad I helped those people back in the intersection. That crash was deadly!" Sonic said, taking a right turn, only to be disappointed to find nothing. Sonic skidded to a stop and began to think. "Man, I've been through the _entire _city and all I found is nothing. Maybe I should wait it out somewhere for the rain to stop. I might even get a Chili Dog to snack on. Oh yeah."

Sonic's thoughts were interrupted when a loud bang was heard behind him. Turning back, his eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing. Floating right in his face, was none other than the Interceptor itself. It appeared to be in a heavily-damaged state, with dents all around it and parts of it's limbs hanging off from wires. It had jerky movements with sparks surrounding it.

"Hey! I thought we got rid of you back in the Mystic Cave zone!" Sonic shouted. The Interceptor simply looked at him with it's only usable eye in the middle of it's body. It's other eyes were cracked, which meant the single laser only worked.

The Interceptor suddenly beat it's "chest" like an ape and swung it's arm towards Sonic, knocking the hedgehog into the side of a building. Sonic groaned and quickly got up. He knew the Interceptor wanted revenge.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you wanna stop me." Sonic mocked the badnik. The Interceptor swung both it's arms down towards Sonic, but he quickly dodged it and began running through the streets. The Interceptor gave chase. Using it's laser, it shot towards Sonic, but he was too fast, and caused it to destroy parts of the buildings. The Interceptor went on a rampage, shooting it's laser non-stop and creating disaster across the city.

The rain turned much heavier now, even to the point where lightning flashed across the whole city. This didn't stop Sonic. He had to keep running and find a way to stop the Interceptor from destroying the city. The chase lead through a tunnel leading to a pair of bridges running over the city's river. The Interceptor continued shooting lasers at Sonic while he effortlessly dodged them.

_TWINKLE!_

"Huh?" Sonic gasped, thinking he had seen something on the neighbouring bridge. Curious, Sonic skidded to a stop, causing the Interceptor to fly over him, not knowing he would do this. Sonic charged a Spin-Dash and jumped to the other bridge, racing back to see what he had passed. On the road, was a Silver Star. Picking it up, Sonic wondered how this had gotten there.

"Can't think too much of this." Sonic said, turning back to see the Interceptor hot on his tail, shooting the laser in his direction. Sonic decided to look for the other heroes and hopefully find help in destroying the Interceptor.

* * *

_**Empire City, in the sewers**_

"Keep running!" Silver shouted back to Blaze, who was right behind him. The two had been running through the sewers for quite some time in order to avoid the large swarm of Aero-Cannons behind them. It seemed whatever they did to heed the chase, it only attracted more of them.

"We have to do something about those badniks! I'm tired of running away from them. We have to fight!" Blaze told him.

"We did try fighting," Silver reminded her. "No matter what attacks we do, more of them suddenly show up. It's like there's an infinite number of them spawning somewhere. All we can do is run and find a place to hide."

"And I thought _you_ were the brave one here...guess not."

The two soon came across a dead end in the sewer. They couldn't turn back, knowing the huge number of Aero-Cannons behind them. Silver panicked, trying to find a way out. Blaze pointed above them, seeing a manhole. Using his telekinesis, Silver removed the manhole, which caused the rain from above to drip into the sewers.

"Great! It's raining." Blaze complained. She had been running through the sewers for an hour and now they had to run through the rain, which she didn't really enjoy. "This just isn't my day, is it?"

"Stop complaining and get out!" Silver shouted at her. Blaze quickly jumped out of the sewers, with Silver following right behind her. They found themselves right outside Central Park. They quickly rushed to where the S-Fighter was. Tails had just finished fixing the fighter and was now waiting for the Silver Stars to power it up.

"Did you guys find any Silver Stars?" Tails asked them. Silver nodded and threw him the Silver Star. He combined it with his Silve Star, causing the two to grow into a bigger Silver Star. "Alright! It works. Now we need the other three."

Suddenly, the swarm of Aero-Cannons appeared from the trees and closed in on the heroes. Tails asked where they came from, while Silver and Blaze told him to get into the S-Fighter and try to power it up for escape.

"Take this!" Silver shouted, shooting a Psycho Knife at a group of Aero-Cannons, destroying them. Another group shot bullets at him, but Silver used his psychic powers to direct them back. Meanwhile, Blaze was shooting fire balls at the swarm, but they barely did any damage to them.

"Stupid rain! It's decreasing the power of my pyrokinesis." Blaze complained, stomping her foot on the ground. She decided to take a more direct approach and useing her Axel Jump to fight against the Aero-Cannon swarm. The two seemed to be doing well on their own, but they slowly became overwhelmed by the numbers.

"There's just too many!" Silver shouted to Blaze, who only nodded back to him. "We need help!"

Suddenly, an Aero-Chaser crashed into a group of Aero-Cannons. Looking to where it came from, Silver and Blaze were relieved to find Mario, Luigi and Yoshi running to them.

"We found more Silver Stars!" Yoshi exclaimed, holding the two in his hands. Blaze told him to bring them to Tails, who was inside preparing the S-Fighter for launch.

"Well, this can't get any worse!" Mario shouted as he knocked away an Aero-Cannon. Silver asked what he was talking about. Luigi pointed in the distance. The heroes had lead the army of Aero-Chasers with them. They hoped to bring them into Central Park and fight them where there weren't too many people in the area.

"What! Why couldn't you guys deal with them somewhere else?!" Silver shouted. Now they had to deal with both the swarm of Aero-Cannons _and_ Aero-Chasers. This was not a fair fight for the heroes. Imagine fighting against a tank with only a stick. Big disadvantage, only in this situation, it was by the numbers.

The heroes did their best to fight against the army of badniks, all while during a terrible thunder storm that brewed in the city. A gust of wind began to pick up in Central Park, causing the trees to sway and making the rain pour much harder. Lightning covered the city as the heroes continued to struggle against the onslaught of badniks. The more they fought, they more tired they became.

"I'm exhausted...bro." Luigi gasped to him. Mario punching, jumping and kicking away the badniks, doing his best to protect his brother, who was kneeling on the ground, all out of energy. They needed a miracle to happen.

"Can't catch me!" a voice shouted. Just then, Sonic came running into the park, with the Interceptor chasing after him. He went in the direction to where the battle was commencing, surprised by the large number of badniks. "Wow, the others seem to be in a doozy."

"Is that Sonic?" Tails said. He and Yoshi were inside the cockpit of the S-Fighter. The other heroes were too focused on the battle to see Sonic running towards him. Getting a closer look, Tails noticed he had a Silver Star in his hand. "That's the last Silver Star!"

"I'll take care of this." Yoshi said. He took their Silver Star, which was close to the size of a regular Power Star, and headed outside into the battle. Yoshi fought his way through the badnik swarm and shouted to Sonic. "Hey! Over here!"

"Hey, he has a Silver Star also." Sonic said. Looking at his Silver Star, he knew what to do. He ran towards the badnik swarm and Spin-Dashed through them. He reached Yoshi and threw his Silver Star into the dinosaur's, causing the two to combine and form back into a Power Star.

"Cool!" Yoshi exclaimed, watching the Power Star glow in his hands. He whistled to the other heroes. "C'mon! Let's get out of here!"

The heroes quickly rushed into the S-Fighter, with Sonic being the last one in. Tails prepared the S-Fighter to launch as Yoshi stuck the Power Star into the engine. The only problem was, the S-Fighter had to charge up, which didn't leave them enough time to escape the badnik swarm that was about to attack them.

"Where are the Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic asked Tails. He pointed over to the safety deposit box behind his chair. Sonic opened it and took out the Blue Chaos Emerald. He absorbed it's power and began to transform. A white light enveloped him and his body began to flash in all different colors like a rainbow.

Sonic transformed into Rainbow Sonic!

"You guys take off once you get the chance. I'll stay behind and take care of these scraps of metal!" Sonic told them. He hopped out of the S-Fighter and stared back at the badnik swarm that slowly approached him. Sonic smirked. "This may sound cheesy, but prepare to taste the rainbow!"

Sonic began to charge up a Rainbow Light Speed Attack. Different lights of colors began to surround him. Just as he was about to unleash his attack, the badniks stopped approaching him. Confused, Sonic watched as all of their eyes began to glow red. All of a sudden, the badniks flew into the air and made their way out of the city.

"What the heck! Hey! What just happened?!" Sonic shouted in confusion. What just happened dumbfounded him. The badniks had the chance to defeat the heroes, but suddenly they fled. It didn't make sense at all.

"Did you see that?" Mario said as he opened the door to the S-Fighter. Sonic nodded. It didn't seem right. It was like they badniks were called in to do something. But what? "I don't think it matters anymore. They're gone from the city."

"It was pretty anti-climactic, if you ask me." Sonic grumbled, using the Chaos Emerald to transform back to regular form. He was sort of disappointed he couldn't kick butt, but at the same time glad the city was safe. He climbed back onto the S-Fighter and the heroes flew out of the city, just as the storm began to subside.

In the end, they still did not get the Chaos Emerald from Junior.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

_**The heroes survived the badnik storm and made Empire City safe once again! But only at the cost of losing sight of Junior and the Chaos Emerald. What could have caused the badniks strange behavior? What will the heroes do next? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

* * *

**A/N: This was a pretty big chapter. For once, we see the heroes backed into a corner and overwhelmed by the enemy. Something I've wanted to do since I began this story. They may be heroes, but that doesn't mean they're unstoppable. Everyone has a weakness.**

**If you're good with symbolism, you'll know the storm talked about throughout this chapter is not the actual weather event that happened. ;)**

**Before I forget, I'll be releasing my newest Pokemon fanfic, "True Amity" beginning next Thursday. There will be a new chapter every week for both stories. If you like this story, you may like that one as well. Check my profile soon for the link.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter and for your support. I want to give a special shout out to those people who have the dedication to read this story from beginning up to this point. You know who you are. Knowing people did this makes me happy that I made a story so interesting and fun for everyone to read. **

**Bye for now! :D **

_**-Azurixx**_

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	81. Girl Power!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 81: Girl Power!**_

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails' House**_

The night was peaceful across Emerald Town. At the moment, Peach, Amy and Cream were awaiting the heroes return from their journey to Empire City. They watched over Rouge and Shadow, who continued to recover from their injuries in their battle in Holoska. Peach and Amy were conversing in the kitchen, while Cream was enjoying herself in the living room, watching cartoons.

"Do you ever get tired of being kidnapped?" Amy asked Peach in curiosity. The two were spouting random topics to each other, hoping to kill the boredom they were going through from the absence of action the became accustomed to in their adventures.

"Honestly, it can be a relief to me," Peach answered as she poured a cup of tea for both of them. "Being in the castle for extended periods of time can get dull. When I'm not holding sports tournaments, there is nothing else for me to do."

"But aren't you ever afraid of getting kidnapped?" Amy asked. She took her cup of tea and sipped it, waiting for Peach to answer. She had to think of what to say.

"At first I was. I was terrified of the tyrant you know as Bowser. But being kidnapped time and time again, it slowly turned into a routine for me and I got used to it. And considering how Bowser _can _be a gentleman and show his soft side, it's not as terrifying as it is."

"Did you just call Bowser...nice?" Amy asked her, showing a look of disbelief. Peach nodded. "How lucky of you to have a nice bad guy. That's hard to say for Eggman. There is not one good thing you can say about him. He's fat, he's ugly and not to mention he's bald! All that, combined with his immoral behaviour, just makes you downright hate him."

"I'm sure he has a reason for his behaviour." Peach reasoned with her. Amy gave her a confused look, and asked how Eggman could possibly have a sane reason for his behaviour. "He is a person. A living being, like the rest of us. All of us follow our own rules of morality and views to the world. Eggman's may be corrupted, but I have a feeling he can change."

"So you're saying he has some good in him?" Amy asked.

"It isn't fair to rule that possibility out, unless proven."

"Well, I need a _whole_ book load of proof to change my view of Eggman. All I care to know about him is that he's evil and I want to be no where _near _him at anytime."

"What are you two talking about?" Cream asked, walking into the kitchen to find a snack while commercial was on. Amy told them about their debate and asked for Cream to throw her two-cents in. "I don't like Eggman. He's a very bad man. I don't know who Bowser is though. Is he nice?"

"He's a giant, spiky turtle who breathes fire and has sharp claws that can shred through anything!" Amy explained. She mimicked claws with her hands and did a swiping motion in front of her. "At least, that's how I remember him"

"Oh...he sounds cute."

"What are you girls talking about?" Rouge interrupted, walking out of Tails' room. She had fully recovered from her injuries and was taking the time to rest in the fox's bedroom. "Ooh, we're talking about bad boys? Those kind of types sort of attract me."

"Really, Rouge? Then what do you think about Eggman and Bowser?" Amy asked, resting her head on her hands, interested in Rouge's answer.

"Eggman? Sheesh, talk about the definitive of big. He may be smart, but when was the last time he's ever heard of a diet?" Rouge said. "Who's Bowser? I like his name. He sounds like _my_ type of guy."

"He's a turtle who wants to take over her world."Amy explained, pointing at Peach. The princess simply nodded as she drank her tea.

"So we've got another lunatic to add in the book. Not interested." Rouge said, suddenly uninterested. She turned to the living room, seeing Shadow was still unconscious on the couch, having a blanket covering his body. Rouge felt worried. Why was it taking this long for him to wake up? What exactly did Metal Sonic do to Shadow? Did he cast a sleeping spell?

"I know that you are wondering about Shadow," Peach spoke, noticing Rouge's anxious look. "I'm sure he'll come to eventually. I've checked his pulse and his beat is at a healthy rate. It's if he wakes up that all matters."

"I'm not worried at all. Shadow's been through a lot in his life. A little bonk on the head won't hurt him." Rouge said with certainty. Although, being one of Shadow's only true friends, she still cared for him like a friend would. "Anyway, excluding Shadow, it's an all-girls club in here. What sort of entertainment are we up for tonight? I am a little bored after resting in bed all day."

"I want to watch more cartoons." Cream said. She grabbed an orange from the kitchen table's basket and headed back to the living room, with Cheese following behind her. The three other heroines were left in boredom.

"I wonder how my world is doing." Peach asked, remembering about the Mushroom Kingdom. It had been weeks since she was in her home world and up until now, she had forgotten about it. She wondered what everyone in her world was doing at the moment. Did they notice the heroes were gone? What would they be doing to find them? She felt sad for her friends, not having a clue to where they were and going on a hopeless search to find them.

After all, they _were_ in a different world.

"I know how you feel, Peach," Amy said, giving her a warm look. "You hope for the best for your friends back home. You hope they aren't worried sick about you. I'm not sure what they are thinking are right, but I _do _know that they care about you." She turned her head to Cream in the living room, remembering the day she ran up to Sonic and the others as she cried, weeping how everyday she couldn't get them off her mind when they returned to their world.

"You're right." Peach said, smiling. "I should know our friends do care about us as much as we care about them. It's our friendship and commitment with each other that helps us survive."

"Aww, how_ sweet _of you to say that." Rouge said, although in reality she didn't really care of Peach's statement at all. "Not to be rude, but things like this are reasons why I don't keep close friendships. Too much emotion in my taste."

"I bet the only _real _friends you treasure are the jewels you keep in your cupboard." Amy joked. Rouge rolled her eyes and proceeded her way out of the house. She needed to stretch her body after hours of resting and a quick flight around town would do the trick.

And so, Peach and Amy were back to where they were: bored out of their minds. As much as they appreciated the independence and isolation from the guys, it was rather uneventful. The heroines really needed something exciting to brighten up the night. Something explosive.

As if on cue, their wishes were immediately granted by a large explosion that rumbled the whole house. A scream was heard downstairs. It was Rouge, and for some reason, she was in trouble.

"What's happening?" Cream cried out, running towards Amy and jumping into her arms. The explosion frightened her and Cheese. Amy assured her they were safe. She looked to Peach, who had an uncertain look in her face.

"We must investigate." Peach said. Amy nodded. Telling Cream to wait for them upstairs, she and Peach headed their way downstairs to the laboratory room, where the main entrance was also located. The two were shocked when they saw the front of the house was obliterated,. The wall and door was reduced to pieces scattered across the street. Everything in Tails' laboratory was destroyed. Within the rubble, was Rouge, who was struggling to get up.

Heading towards her, was Metal Sonic.

"Gorgeous night, isn't it, ladies?" Metal Sonic greeted them. He pointed the Jeweled Scepter at them, warning them not to come any closer. Peach and Amy could only watch in horror as Metal Sonic picked up Rouge by the neck, gently choking her. "Now, if you don't want to see your friend hurt, I suggest you hand over the Chaos Emeralds."

"What are you talking about? We don't have the Chaos Emeralds!" Amy shouted at him. She had a furious look on her face, angry for what Metal Sonic was doing. On the other hand, Metal Sonic was both confused and alarmed the emeralds weren't here. He was sure the heroes would have kept them in safe place. Unless they were smart enough to bring them along on their journeys.

"...the Chaos Emeralds...are not here?"

"Are you deaf? I just said that!" Amy shouted. She was ready to pound Metal Sonic. She wasn't going to let him hurt any of her friends. Peach simply stayed calmed and watched the two argue. "Go ahead, you can check every inch of this house and not find the Chaos Emeralds."

"Ugh...a little help..." Rouge choked, still struggling in Metal Sonic's grasp. Frustrated his plan didn't work, Metal Sonic threw Rouge towards Amy and Peach, knocking them back against the stairs. He pointed the Jeweled Scepter towards them and charged up a spell.

"Things may not have gone the way I intended it to be, but that doesn't mean I will leave without accomplishing something." Metal Sonic said, menacingly. "Once I'm finished with you, I will leave your lifeless bodies here as a warning to the heroes. If they dare mess with me, they will soon suffer the pain through all the Negative energy I will soon have! Any last words?"

"Cheese! Get him!"

"...what?"

All of a sudden, Cheese flew towards Metal Sonic and tackled him, knocking the robot backwards and causing him to drop both the Jeweled Scepter and Chaos Emerald. Running downstairs was Cream, who had heard the whole ruckus. She commanded Cheese to attack Metal Sonic.

"Good job Cream," Amy thanked her. She helped Peach and Rouge up, then proceeded to take her Piko Piko Hammer out of her pocket. "I remember the time you kidnapped me, Metal Sonic. All I ever did was wait for Sonic to rescue me. But not anymore. I am independent and I'll do anything to stop you!"

"Yeah, you go girl. Who needs boys?" Rouge exclaimed. Using her wings, she flew into the air and prepared for battle. She was ready to avenge Shadow for what Metal Sonic put him through. "Be a good robot, Metal, and hand over that splendid scepter. I could use it in my collection.

"Hmph! Women these days." Metal Sonic grumbled as he got up using his jetpack. He picked up the Jeweled Scepter, leaving the Chaos Emerald for later, and aimed it at the heroines. "Since you aren't men, I'll go easy on you. Please mind that I'm only over-exaggerating that statement."

"Cream, take the princess upstairs and protect her." Amy commanded Cream. She nodded and took Peach's hand as they ran upstairs. Amy and Rouge looked at each other and nodded. Even though they never got along, they could set aside their differences and work as a team.

"Try and keep this interesting." Metal Sonic said, before attacking them. He cast a shadow spell towards Amy, who deflected it with her hammer. She charged towards Metal Sonic and swung her hammer down at him. Metal Sonic used his Jeweled Scepter to block it. Being the more powerful, Metal Sonic easily overwhelmed Amy and knocked her backwards, causing her to fly back.

"Don't just rush in like an idiot. I hate to admit it, but this guy is powerful." Rouge lectured Amy as she caught her. Dropping her on the floor, Rouge picked through her pockets and took out a handful of Dummy Ring bombs. "We need to take a distant approach."

"That's not going to do much." Amy argued. Rouge ignored her and threw the Dummy Ring bombs towards Metal Sonic. They hit, but barely did any noticeable damage. Metal Sonic shrugged off the attack and shot another shadow spell at them. The two dodged it, but wondered what to do next.

"What can we do? We can't beat him on our own." Amy said to herself. She looked behind Metal Sonic and noticed he didn't pick up the Blue Chaos Emerald he dropped. Getting an idea, she spun around and threw her Piko Piko Hammer at Metal Sonic, which knocked him onto the ground and dazed him for a few seconds. Taking the opportunity, Amy ran towards the Chaos Emerald and picked it up. She took in it's energy. Her clothes suddenly changed from red to baby blue. A cold energy rushed through her body.

Amy transformed into Ice Amy!

"Did I miss something, or did your clothes suddenly just change?" Rouge asked in bewilderment, noticing Amy's transformation. Metal Sonic looked over at was surprisingly impressed.

"Hmm...interesting. So you have also found a way to harness the energy from the _other _world. No matter, this will not change the outcome of this battle. I will win!" Metal Sonic charged towards Amy with his V. Maximum Overdrive attack. Amy held her hands in front of her and shot a cold, icy beam at him. The two attacks collided and a battle of strength commenced. Metal Sonic, while Amy used all her strength to sustain the beam. After a few moments, the two stopped their attacks, exhausted.

"How can this be? Your strength us now equal to mine?" Metal Sonic said in wonderment.

"Don't underestimate a girl." Amy said, putting her hands to her hips in a mocking fashion. Furious, Metal Sonic dropped the Jeweled Scepter on the floor and suddenly charged up an immense amount of energy in him. A bright light flashed in the area and Metal Sonic was now surrounded in a magenta aura. His powers were now duplicated twice.

"You want to see brute strength? I'll show you what brute strength really is."

Meanwhile, Cream and Peach were waiting upstairs for the battle to end. They were in the living room, along with Shadow, who was _still _unconscious.

"I hope Amy and Rouge are okay." Cream said. She was holding tightly onto Peach's hand. Seeing her frightened, Peach tried to comfort her.

"Everything will be okay. I'm sure they will be able to stand up for themselves." Cream asked what if they couldn't. Peach took a moment to think of an answer. She smiled. "I'll make sure to protect you."

"But, I'm supposed to protect you." Cream corrected her. Peach nodded and both came to an agreement to protect each other. Cream looked over to Shadow, and wished for him to wake up. She was positive he would be able to stand against Metal Sonic.

Suddenly, they heard a thud near the kitchen's window. Curious, Cream and Peach took a closer look, making sure to be cautious. Everything was silent, all except for the battle commencing downstairs. Thinking it was nothing, the two loosened up, that was, until something came crashing through the window, flying by them and catching them by surprise.

"Roar!" Junior shouted, surprising them both. At first, he was about to attack, until he noticed Peach was there. The two were shocked by each other's presence."What? Peach? What are you doing here?"

"I must ask the same question, Junior." Peach asked him. Cream asked who he was, which Peach explained he was the son of Bowser and was also their enemy. Cream wasn't frightened by his appearance, in fact, she was very intrigued.

"Ohh...you don't look scary." Cream said to him. "You actually look cute. I like your bib."

"Hey! Shuddup! You see these teeth I drew? It's supposed to be scary! You're supposed to be scared!" Junior shouted her. He began to stomp his feet from side to side in anger. This wasn't the first impression he wanted to make to this random rabbit he met. "You know what? Forget it! The only reason I'm here is for the Chaos Emeralds. Now where are they?"

"I'm sorry Junior, but you wasted your time coming here." Peach told him sternly. Junior didn't know what to do after hearing this. If the Chaos Emeralds weren't there, what could they do now? They couldn't just leave empty-handed. Seeing his confused face, Peach consulted with him. "Junior, are you with that robot downstairs? Please, you must stop him.

"Why should I stop him? He promised me to take me back to my world with the Chaos Emeralds. I doubt you have a better reason than him. Do you?" Junior shouted. Peach didn't know how to respond. She could feel Junior's anger, confusion and sadness in his voice.

"Is something wrong, Junior?" Peach asked. She gave him a caring look to him, showing her genuine worry for him. The koopaling couldn't take the pressure any longer.

"...all I want is to see my papa again!" Junior confessed. He suddenly lost control of his emotions. He fell to his knees, slamming his fists into the floor and began cry uncontrollably. It had been so long since he had seen his father, he was desperate to do anything to see him again. "Do you know...how excruciating it is...for a kid like me...to be away from their parent..?"

"Yes...I do." Cream said, feeling terrible for Junior. She slowly walked up to him and put a hand to his shoulder. Junior's emotions suddenly changed. Realizing how he was acting in front of them, he became enraged.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Junior screamed. He punched Cream away, hitting her face and causing her to fall onto the floor. The hit left a bruise on her cheek. Peach rushed up to her and looked over her. She stared at Junior, horrified of his actions.

"What's happening to you, Junior?" Peach grieved for him.

"I want my papa." Junior said. His voice suddenly turned demonic. Taking his bib off, he breathed a fire ball towards the two. Peach carried Cream and jumped, using her abilities to float in the air. Junior continued firing fire balls at them, with Peach struggling to avoid them. She dropped back down and headed downstairs, hoping to find a way to stop all this chaos.

"All of you will soon be under my rule!" Metal Sonic announced. He summoned pillars of electricity to appear in the room and attack Amy and Rouge. The two dodged the attacks with ease. Taking a different approach, Metal Sonic summoned massive purple energy spheres and shot them towards the heroines. They both got hit causing them to fall backwards in pain.

"I won't let you win!" Amy shouted, quickly getting up and jumping towards Metal Sonic. She began to spin rapidly in the air, with icicles surrounding her and attacked Metal Sonic. Her Icicle Spin knocked Metal Sonic backwards, but did minor damage.

"Brace yourself. I'm going to throw you." Rouge told her. Flying them both in the air, she spun around and threw Amy towards Metal Sonic. In the air, Amy got into her Homing Attack form, except she was covered in shroud of snow. The attack landed, causing Metal Sonic to freeze into an ice statue and land into the floor.

"Who knew a huge ice-cube could stop a destructive robot?" Amy mocked Metal Sonic as he was stuck in the ice. She knocked on the ice cube a few times, only for it to crack and release Metal Sonic. He began to charge a powerful beam through his chest cannon.

"That is it! You've gotten on my circuits for the last time! I will make sure you suffer the most horrible death I can conjure up!" Metal Sonic spoke angrily. Before he shot the beam, he was interrupted by the screams of Peach.

"Please! Stop!" Peach shouted. Turning to her, Metal Sonic was surprised to see a Star Child. Peach had Cream in her hands. She was sobbing from the bruise Junior gave to her. "Metal Sonic, you must stop this chaos. Because of your actions, you're hurting the innocent lives of others. Please, have the heart to spare all of us. We have done nothing to provoke you into doing all of this. We have the right to live, just like you have the right to exist as a living robot."

"Hmph, you have very reasonable points," Metal Sonic told her. Suddenly, she charged towards her and grabbed her by the neck and floated themselves in the air. This caused Peach to drop Cream. Amy rushed over to her side. "But you have answered your own question to why I am doing all of this. I _am_ a robot_. _I do not care for the emotions of living beings. All I need is to be the strongest in the world and rule all who I think is pathetic."

"Please..." Peach begged him. Under other circumstances, Metal Sonic would have killed her right there. But because she was a Star Child, he needed her.

"Let her go." a voice suddenly spoke. Everyone turned to the stairway and was surprised to see Shadow with them. He was holding Junior by the tail, who was struggling to get out. In his other hand, was the Silver Chaos Emerald. "I will only say this once. Let the girl go."

"Ahh...Shadow. You've decided to join us." Metal Sonic greeted him. He slowly floated backwards, keeping a tight grip on Peach. He floated to where he dropped the Jeweled Scepter and picked it up, pointing it at Shadow. "I see we both have something the other wants."

"I remember what you did to me back in Holoska." Shadow reminded him as he walked down the stairs. He went up to Amy and Cream, noticing the latter had a bruise. "Hurting the women? Even I wouldn't lower myself to that degree."

"Give me the koopaling and the Chaos Emerald." Metal Sonic warned him. He pointed the Jeweled Scepter against Peach's head and charged up a spell. "Or I will _kill _her."

"You wouldn't do that. I know you need her." Shadow told him. He remembered the story that Mario and Sonic told him. How Metal Sonic needed Mario's friends and the Chaos Emeralds to open up the Negative Dimension and harness unlimited power. Shadow would never let Metal Sonic be more powerful than he was.

"Go on. Test me." Metal Sonic said. "I know about your past, Shadow. Aren't you still guilty about the girl you let die on the ARK? How would this girl's death be any different than hers?"

Shadow gave a shocked look. How did Metal Sonic know about that? He couldn't believe Metal Sonic was cruel enough to remind him about something he spent his whole life time to forget. The shock in him caused him to drop Junior and the Silver Chaos Emeralds. Taking the opportunity, Metal Sonic shot another spell at him that knocked Shadow back to unconsciousness.

"Shadow!" Rouge called to him. She was about to run to him when Metal Sonic shot a green spell at her. Once it came into contact, Rouge found herself bound by a green rope wrapping around her upper body. She struggled to escape the bound, but couldn't.

"What the-" Amy shouted, only to be hit by the same spell used on Rouge. Metal Sonic shot the spell on all the other heroes, except for Shadow, who didn't need to be bothered for. Junior helped carry the captured heroes outside on the streets.

"What do you plan on doing to us?" Peach asked as she and the other heroines struggled to escape their bounds. Metal Sonic laughed, saying the others were lucky she appeared, otherwise, he would have wiped them off the face of the planet.

"Due to the change of events, I have come up with a new plan." Metal Sonic explained to them. "And all of you will be a part of it."

"Will this help me see my papa again?" Junior asked him. Metal Sonic nodded. Knowing that Junior would do anything to see his father again, Metal Sonic could easily manipulate him, just like he had done with Luigi.

"I know the heroes will do anything for one another. What I have planned will assure us both power of the Negative Dimension and the defeat of the heroes once and for all! All we need is a base. I know the_ exact_ place for our plans."

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

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_**Metal Sonic and Junior has captured everyone! Who will come to their rescue? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**_

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**A/N: Sorry for the long chapter. Everything you read in here is an important aspect needed for future chapters and I just couldn't bare to edit them out. I worked really hard on this chapter, and I'm proud of it. I'll tell you that the last act of this _saga_ is finally beginning. Yipee. I won't say much of it right now, keeping it for a bigger surprise in the future.**

**And to finally inform all of you, my new fanfic, "Pokemon: True Amity" is finally posted for reading. It'll be the last time I'll say this, so make sure you get a chance to read it.**

**Thanks for reading and supporting my story. Come back next week for a new chapter. Bye for now! :D**

_**-Azurixx**_

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_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related materials. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	82. Collateral Damage!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 82: Collateral Damage!**_

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_**Inside Eggman's Base, Control Room**_

Waiting inside the control room, was Bowser. Sitting in Eggman's fixed hover chair, he silently waited as the doctor was putting in the finishing touches to their "Project U" weapon. Bowser was unfamiliar with many of Eggman's technology, so he wasn't sure if he could contribute anything to the weapon. So Eggman was left to do all the work while Bowser sat bored in the room. The Koopa king took the time to think about his adventure so far.

"Much has changed ever since I've teamed up with the doctor." Bowser said to himself. He still couldn't be believe the things that have been going on recently. It was nothing he ever experienced in the past before. A new world. New people. It was an unexpected turn of events.

"What do I have in my world that I care about?" Bowser recalled, thinking about the state of his world before he left it. It seemed peaceful throughout. Due to almost all his minions being gone after the confrontation between the heroes in his castle, the Mushroom Kingdom didn't have anything to worry about. No attacks. Nothing disturbed them.

"I have nothing worth in that world anymore." Bowser thought. With no army in his disposal, where else could the king have turned to? Especially since he believed his most beloved treasure was gone.

His son.

"What purpose do I have in my world? I lost everything. All I can focus on is avenging my destroyed dreams." Bowser said, banging his fist on the hover chair with both aggression and determination. "Those heroes will _pay. _I will personally make sure that happens."

"Whaaaaat's the deal?" Cubot's voice suddenly spoke. Surprised, Bowser tumbled forward out of the hover chair, accidentally knocking himself onto the control panels of the computer. Angry, Bowser grumbled on how long Cubot was there. "I dunno, I lost track after ten minutes."

"What were you doing behind the chair for ten minutes? Don't you have something better to do?"

"Not really. Orbot is helping the doctor with finishing our special project. I asked if I could help, but they just shrugged me off. It's like they think I'm annoying or something. Isn't that funny?" Bowser rolled his eyes, pretending not to know why they thought he was annoying. "So, what's our new ally doing all by himself here?"

"I'm just thinking over things." Bowser told the curious robot. "It's none of your business, so I'd appreciate it if you buzzed off."

Unfortunately for him, Cubot was annoyingly persistant, and kept begging Bowser for him to tell what was on his mind. After a good few minutes of non-stop blabbering, Bowser gave in and told him everything that has happened from his point of view.

"Gee, that must suck for you. I can't really relate with ya, to be honest." Cubot said assertively. "Although, I wouldn't be stupid enough to lose my own kingdom. I mean, come on, how hard can it be to do that? You've got to be one of the most lousiest rulers of all for that to happen. Speaking of lousy, have you seen Eggman's diet plan?"

"Will you shut up? I thought you were trying to comfort me. Instead, you're making me want to squash you into a tin-can!" Bowser threatened him, causing smoke to come out of his nostrils. Cubot backed away, trying to calm him down.

"Whoa! Big guy! Chill! I was just being honest. I didn't directly say you were a lousy king. I was just making an example, that's all! No big deal, right?" Cubot tried explaining to him. He decided to change the subject. "Hey! Why don't you tell me about that son of yours. I bet you have loads of happy father-son memories to take all that pain away."

"My son..." Bowser spoke as his rage turned into depression. He sat on the floor, still overwhelmed his son was gone. During his time in his world, he looked all over for Junior as he helped Eggman build the dimension teleporter. "I miss him so much...if you were a father, you would understand the pain I've been going through the past few days."

"Yeah, I'm not a father so I can't relate." Cubot told him. "Although, I am a robot!"

"...how the heck does that relate to anything, metal head?"

"I don't know."

"Gah! You're no help at all!" Bowser growled at him. He went back onto the hover chair and resumed waiting for Eggman to finish their "Project U". Looking up at the computer screen, he realized it was on surveillance mode. Surprisingly, it was focused on one camera. That camera was following a figure that sped through the halls of Eggman's base. Curious, Bowser took a closer look.

The figure appeared to be floating through the hallway at a quick pace. In it's hand was some sort of scepter-like object. It's appearance appeared to be a blue, robot. Bowser's memories flashed back to the fight in his castle. That same robot was present there as well. He remembered how it appeared out of nowhere as he and Eggman were about to defeat Mario and Sonic. He saved them, and because of that event, _all_ of these events were able to transpire onto the koopa king.

"That robot! He was there! If it wasn't for him, my castle wouldn't have been destroyed! We would've been able to demolish the heroes with our Doomsday machine!" Bowser roared in anger. Suddenly filled with fury, Bowser stormed out of the control room, determined to find the robot that ruined their plans back in his world.

"Another robot? Oh joy! I love meeting new friends!" Cubot cheered as he tagged along with Bowser with unfitting optimism.

_**Eggman's Base, Project U Room**_

Deep within the base, was a large vault-like room that concealed only one object. "Project U". It was covered under a beige blanket. The weapon was so large it was almost as big as a city itself. Eggman and Orbot were under the blanket, working on the weapon's main power core. With a weapon this size, they needed large amounts of energy. What perfect power source other than the Master Emerald?

"Doctor, are you positive this machine will have enough energy to function?" Orbot asked as he and Eggman climbed out from under the blanket. They had finished installing the Master Emerald into the power core. All they had to do was activate the machine. Project U was ready to initiate at the proper time.

"Hohoh! I would bet my life on the line knowing my weapon will give us wondrous results." Eggman said positively. He couldn't wait for when they launched their weapon on the world. He had no doubts it could change who would become dominant from now on. Everyone on the planet would have no choice but to bow down to them.

"You seem enthusiastic about this plan, doctor." Orbot told him. The robot was always supportive towards Eggman, whether his comments _were _blunt or not. But there was always a flip-side with him. "Have you ever thought of the heroes interfering with your plans? Once your project has kicked in, there is no doubt the heroes will take action against it."

"I won't focus on the heroes this time around. Once they realize the potential in this project, they will have no choice but to get on their knees and finally see me as ruler!" Eggman assured him. Although, he sounded absolute about his idea, there was little doubt in him. But it was miniscule compared to his confidence. And even if the heroes decided to counteract, he had the perfect plan. The perfect weapon.

The two began their way out of the Project U's vault room, until they were disrupted by a loud explosion from behind. Turning back, they were surprised the wall a few meters away from them had crumbled down. As the smoke and rubble cleared, Eggman was dumbfounded to who had broken in.

"Greetings, doctor." Metal Sonic spoke to him. The robot walked slowly towards the duo, pointing the Jeweled Scepter at them. "It has been awhile since we've met. I will be honest, I wasn't expecting to find you here. I'm sure the same can be said vice-versa."

"M-Metal Sonic? But how?" Eggman shouted in shock. It had been almost a year since he had last seen Metal Sonic. At that time, they were enemies, and they still were, due to conflict between each other. "How dare you enter _my _base! I thought you were gone, out of my way! But it appears you just keep coming back."

"That simply shows your a good mechanic." Orbot supported Eggman. He stared at Metal Sonic for a moment and waved at him. The robot duo had never met Metal Sonic, so it was their first encounter between the machines. "Uhmm...it's nice to finally meet our predecessor."

"Is this what you've reduced your help to? A robot that resembles a puny desk lamp? I am ashamed of you doctor."

"I have absolutely no idea where you came up with the idea of me looking like a lamp, but I will argue back that I can turn into a compact ball when necessary."

"This is not the time for your annoying remarks, Orbot!" Eggman sassed, telling him to shut up afterwards. He gave a serious look towards Metal Sonic. "I have no use for you anymore, traitor. Now that I have my secret weapon on standby, all I have to do is press a button and blast you into smithereens!"

"How amusing that you bother to threaten me." Metal Sonic deviously chuckled, aiming the Jeweled Scepter at the two. "Let me remind you that other than the weapon you speak of, _I _am the most threatening out of us. Unless that _lamp_ of yours can actually do something other than blabber."

"I can pick things up, if you call that useful." Orbot responded.

Metal Sonic wasn't interested. All he wanted was a base for him and Junior. It was simply an inconvenience that Eggman happened to be there. He was sure the doctor was still stuck in the other world, remembering the fight in Bowser's Castle. Just as he was about to attack, Metal Sonic was stopped by a surprise blast of fire that knocked him a few feet away.

"Hey, metal head! Remember me?" Bowser shouted in anger as he entered the room, followed by Cubot. The koopa king began to crack his knuckles. "Payback is gonna get you real good! You stop us from defeating the heroes, then you destroyed my castle. I'm gonna make sure you don't reboot ever again after I'm done with you!"

"You!" Metal Sonic shouted. He instantly recognized Bowser from the other world. He was both shocked, yet pleased to see he was present. The thought of his sudden appearance made him excited. It meant he could go through with the plan to access the Negative Dimension, now that all the Star Children were in the same world.. Although, it would be a more welcoming idea if Bowser didn't threaten to fight him.

"I'm furious! So let's cut to the chase and let me crush you!" Bowser roared. He charged towards Metal Sonic and swiped his claws at him, only to miss as the robot flew into the air and activated his V. Maximum Overdrive attack, charging back to him. Bowser retreated into his shell and started spinning at Metal Sonic as well. The two attacks collided, causing both of them to tumble backwards.

"You are a strong one, indeed. And yet, I'm not surprised. You must put up a _decent _fight against that plumber you rival." Metal Sonic said, shooting an electric spell at Bowser. The attack hit, paralyzing him for a few seconds. "But I know your past. How can you lose to the same guy over one hundred times? It's pathetic for a brute like you."

"Grrr! You say I can't put up a good fight _and _I'm a loser? You must have a death wish if you've got the nerve to even irritate me the slightest!" Bowser warned him. He suddenly got out of his shock and pounced onto Metal Sonic by surprise. He threw away his Jeweled Scepter and picked the robot up by one hand, smashing him hard into the ground. Sparks flew out of the robot. He continued to repeatedly slam him into the ground. "I've been waiting for this day to come! I've got nothing to lose because of you! Now_ die_!"

Bowser contined slamming Metal Sonic into the ground. His phsyical state became more and more damaged. Parts of Metal Sonic's limbs began to hang from a wire. Dents and scratches appeared all over his body. Metal Sonic's eyes began to flash as his circuitry tried his best to keep his engine from shutting off. His robotic consciousness was on the line.

Eggman, Orbot and Cubot could only watch in silence as Bowser continued deteriorating Metal Sonic's body into pieces.

"My castle is gone! My army has fallen! I cannot see my son anymore! Do you know how much pain I'm in right now? DO YOU!? I've failed to become a ruler and a father! I'm going to _kill_ you!"

"STOP!" a voice shouted.

Turning to the door of the Project U room, everyone was surprised to find Junior standing in front of them. Especially Bowser, who was already overwhelmed with emotion. Seeing his son, he couldn't comprehend the situation. He had no idea what was going on anymore. IT slowly dawned to him that he was staring at the person he missed the most right in the eye.

"J-Junior...?" Bowser croaked, dropping Metal Sonic's destroyed body onto the floor. He slowly walked up to him. Junior did the same. The two had never seen each other for weeks. They had missed each other so much that they were on the brink of depression, and only the presence of one another could mend their stitches on their emotional state.

As any father or son would do, they rushed towards each other and hugged, happily reunited.

"I can't believe it! I thought I had lost you!" Bowser wailed, grateful to see his son again. Junior felt the same thing for his father. He told Bowser how he dreaded the days of not seeing him for a long time. "Tell me Junior, how in the world did you get here?"

Junior explained to his father of everything that happened ever since he entered this world. His struggle in Empire City, his confrontation with the heroes in Metal City, and even the raid he did with Metal Sonic in Emerald Town. Bowser told him all about his mission with Eggman they planned in Shamar.

"I'm just glad I got to see you again, papa." Junior told him, smiling in gratitude. Bowser nodded, and promised they wouldn't be separated again.

"Ooooh! Dang! Collateral damage right here!" Cubot exclaimed, seeing Metal Sonic's current state. His body was crudely mangled. Metal Sonic didn't appear to move at all. In fact, the neon eyes were not on at all. He was dead.

"I must congratulate, Bowser." Eggman said, kneeling over Metal Sonic's body to look over the damage.. "You are the first person I have seen, with the exception of Sonic, that has been able to destroy Metal Sonic. Good job."

"I...didn't mean to." Bowser tried to reason with him. He was so frustrated at the time he couldn't control what he was doing. Eggman said he didn't need to apologize. He was glad one problem was rid of for him.

"What shall we do with the body, boss?" Orbot asked him. Eggman thought about it and told him to carry it back in his lab so they could possibly reprogram him for their own use. After all, Eggman knew everything about Metal Sonic's circuitry from the inside out. It would be a small task for him.

"Oooh! Look at this shiny stick!" Cubot exclaimed as he began to wave around the Jeweled Scepter around the air. He accidentally charged up a fireball spell and shot it into the air, surprising everyone. "Whoa! That was cool!"

"Give me that!" Eggman growled, snatching the scepter away from Cubot. He was surprised that Metal Sonic had the artifact in possession. The last time the doctor had seen was in an alternate dimension of his own world. He turned to Junior, suspicious "Do you have any idea of how he got his hands on this, boy?"

Junior looked down to Metal Sonic's body. He thought about their Negative Dimension plan. If Metal Sonic was ever in any danger, Junior knew he had to take his place and possess the energy himself. Knowing it was time for them to know, Junior explained _everything _about their plan to enter the Negative Dimension.

"How long have you been planning this?" Bowser asked Junior. The koopaling confessed ever since Eggman came into their castle. Bowser was at first shocked that Junior kept this secret from him for so long. But

"Hmph! I doubt the robot could have fulfilled the plan on his own, even if he did have any help." Eggman scoffed. Junior argued back, saying he had done the ritual once and, even though he messed up one bit, he was _very _close in entering the Negative Dimension. "I'd like to see you prove that."

"Then what makes you think I got into this world? A taxi drive?" Junior explained to him. He explained he was able to get all seven Chaos Emeralds, the Jeweled Scepter, the Master Emerald and even six of the Star Children to make a portal to go to their world. Eggman was surprised of their efforts, knowing they had been doing this under cover.

"Okay, so you may have come very close into enter the dimension. But what makes you think you can do it again? You don't even have any of the Chaos Emeralds! And how are you going to find the Star Children again? You may know your papa is one of them now, but there is no way you can convince the heroes to do this ritual a second time."

"You think because I'm just a kid, I'm uncapable of doing these kinds of stuff." Junior barked back. He suddenly took out the Blue and White Chaos Emeralds from his shell. Eggman and Bowser were surprised the koopaling had them. He gave them to his papa and asked Eggman if he could borrow the Jeweled Scepter for a few moments.

"How am I going to get the heroes to agree? With these guys!" Junior waved the Jeweled Scepter, and a portal appeared in front of them. Suddenly, Peach, Amy, Cream, Rouge and Shadow dropped out of it. All but Shadow were still bound by the energy ropes Metal Sonic cast on them, while Shadow was simply unconscious and laid on the floor.

"Wh-where are we?" Peach asked, looking around her. The others wondered the same thing. Cream was cuddling against Amy. She still cried over the bruise Junior slapped across her face. Peach noticed they were in front of the villains. She shouted in horror. "Oh no! Bowser!"

"That's Bowser?!" Rouge said in surprise. She took a closer look at him. "Hmm...I like the hair, but everything else about him is a turn-off."

"Wait...what?" Bowser said, just as confused as the heroines. He began to ask Junior how they had the heroines captured. Junior explained that he and Metal Sonic raided Emerald Town, hoping to find the Chaos Emeralds. Not wanting to go empty handed, they took the heroines captive instead. "Okay...so you did that. But what do you have in mind with them?"

"You see, the heroes have the other five Chaos Emeralds. So if we show them we have their friends in our hands, they'll have no choice but to hand the Chaos Emeralds to us. What do you think?" Junior explained. Bowser and Eggman liked the idea. It was a way for them to defeat the heroes."So, do you think we'll be able to pull off the Negative Dimension plan?"

"Not a chance." Eggman answered him. Shocked, Junior let out a small tantrum and asked why. "I'm impressed by your plan, but the thing is we won't need it to rule the world. I'm using the Master Emerald to power u[ our Project U weapon me and your father have made up."

"It's true..." Bowser told Junior, a bit disappointed his son's efforts had to go to waste. He tried comforting Junior, saying they could still defeat the heroes anyway. Junior reluctantly agreed, but was still furious he couldn't go through with the plan he created so long ago.

"What are you going to do with us? You better let us go!" Amy shouted at the villains. Eggman laughed and shook his head. He told her not to worry, saying they have a comfortable place for the heroines while they soon take over the world.

"Orbot! Cubot! I want you to bring these ladies over to their temporary holding cells until I finish up Project U." Eggman commanded them. The robot duo nodded. As they began to carry the bound heroines, Eggman spoke once more. "Oh, and in the case of Shadow, bring him to the laboratory. I have special plans for him that I know will benefit us."

"Finally, everything is falling into place." Bowser said, filled with enthusiasm. It was a matter of time before they could come face to face with the heroes and dominate them with their new weapon. "Soon, we, the villains, will finally come on top! It will be a new day where everyone will be under our rule! Nothing is going to get in our way now! Nothing!"

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter is uploaded late. It's only by an hour though, so no big deal, I guess. You know, with school and all, I've been busy and couldn't spend as much time typing up the story like I did in the summer. The best I can do is make my ideas and story plots concise to meet the deadline. I wish I had more time to work on chapters, but I promised not to miss making weekly updates for you guys.**

**Thanks for reading and supporting my story. Check my profile for my other stories and make sure to leave any comments. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respesctively~**_


	83. Desert Fever!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 83: Desert Fever!**_

* * *

_**Shamar, Desert Outskirts**_

"Kill me. Please. Anything that will take me away from this never ending torture I'm enduring!" Wario complained as he struggled to crawl through the dusty dunes. "SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF THIS BAKING OVEN!"

"Food...water...bananas..." Donkey Kong croaked. He laid down, back against the sand. The heat was overwhelming him. He covered his eyes from the sunlight that beat down against them. It didn't help that he was covered in fur, which made the burning temperatures even worse for him as he continued to sweat.

"Life just hates us, doesn't it?" Knuckles argued to them. He laid along with the other two, only this time, he'd given up finding a safe haven for them and decided to watch amusingly as Wario continued to crawl his way towards an unreachable goal for them.

"I...hate...deserts!" Wario screamed. He reached his hand out to crawl further, but all of his energy drained, causing him to slump into the sand. "Gah! Why does the desert have to be sooooo hot!?"

"Don't you have, like, your own palace in the desert?" Donkey Kong reminded him.

"Pssh! Yeah! But I installed air-conditioning there!" Wario looked around them. "Do you see any air-conditioning here? I DON'T THINK SO!"

"Will you shut up!" Donkey Kong screamed back at him, slamming his fists into the sand. His tantrum caused clumps of it to fly towards Wario and cover his face with it. Furious, Wario wiped himself off and charged towards Donkey Kong, causing the two to brawl out in the middle of the desert.

Had this been a bit dramatic, if they weren't flailing their arms at each other weakly from the lack of energy they had. It wasn't a matter of time before they began hugging each other, trying to keep the other one up from falling backwards due to exhaustion.

"Gosh, this is embarrassing.." Knuckles groaned, shaking his head from the wimpy fight happening in front of him. He began to wonder how three powerhouses like them were reduced to weaklings abandoned in the desert. None of this would have happened if they were more cautious during their mission to retrieve the Master Emerald.

"Dang...Bowser sure out-witted us back there." Knuckles sighed, reminiscing their confrontation in the Death Tombs, which was miles behind them now. Even so, they wouldn't be in this situation if Bowser hadn't fried the Tornado-3.

"Geez, I _still _don't know how I'm going to explain this to Tails."

"Ugh! Take...this!" Donkey Kong said, throwing a weak punch towards Wario, only to end up missing him. Wario gave an exhausted growl and threw himself at Donkey Kong, causing the ape to fall backwards. Wario proceeded to throw punches while on top of him. Although, they felt more like slow, annoying taps a child would give to you so they could, well, annoy you. Donkey Kong simply laid there, not caring anymore.

It seemed like this was the end for the three heroes. Deserted in this endless land of dusty sand, with no sign of civilization anywhere. It would be a matter of days, maybe weeks, before they would give out from dehydration or exhaustion. Whichever one came first.

Atleast, it seemed it would come to this. Suddenly, the heroes felt the ground shake beneath them. Shocked, they looked around to see what was happening. The sand beneath them shook away and disappeared, revealing a large, circular metal door beneath them.

"What...what!? WHAT?!" Wario yelled in bewilderment. "H-How long was this under here?"

"Is...is this a mirage? Have we've gone crazy already?" Donkey Kong asked. Suddenly, the metallic door began to open up from under them.

"Quick! Get out of the way!" Knuckles shouted. The trio scampered as fast they could as the metallic door opened up, revealing a large hole under it, also made out of metal. The heroes looked down, only to see darkness filled inside. "What the heck? Who put this gigantic hole in the middle of the desert."

"Uhm...Knuckles?" Donkey Kong said, tapping this shoulder. Knuckles looked, seeing that he and Wario were gazing up in the sky in shock. Wondering what they were staring at, he turned and opened his mouth in disbelief.

"No way!"

Flying towards them, was a large, dark, ominous cloud. It wasn't some random cloud that found its way to the desert. It was much worse. As it got closer, the heroes realized what the cloud really was. It was a swarm. A swarm of Eggman's badniks.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Knuckles yelled. There were so many of them. How in the world could so much of them come from the same place? And if it the ones flying towards them weren't overwhelming enough. Below them was another group of badniks that followed closely behind them.

"We're doomed. We're dead! There is no way we can take all of them baddies at once!" Donkey Kong moaned. Right now, laying in the heat of the sun, awaiting for his life to end, seemed much better than the army of robots in front of them.

"Grrr! An army of robots? They're all hunks of metal! We can take care of them!" Wario said, determined. He spit into his hands and got into battle position. Knuckles shook his head and tried to reason with him.

"Are you nuts? There hundreds, probably thousands of them and only three of us. You'll be ripped to bits by the time you knock down your tenth badnik. It's not worth it."

"What do you want us to do then, huh?" Wario complained back. Knuckles took a moment to think. There was no way they could run without being spotted by the army. There was no where to hide, seeing they were stuck in a barren, sandy land. There was only one option left.

"You're not going to like this." Knuckles said. He turned towards the metal hole behind him. Taking a deep breath, he jumped and dived inside it. Wario and Donkey Kong could only watch in horror.

"And he's asking me if I'm nuts!" Wario said, backing away from the hole. There was no way he'd jump down there. Donkey Kong, on the other hand, would do anything than fight a battle he knew they'd never win.

"Come on, it can't be _that _bad!" Donkey Kong said, grabbing Wario by his hip. Wario struggled to escape his grasp, but of course, couldn't before they both plunged into the dark hole, unaware of what was to come for them.

* * *

"What is this place?" Knuckles asked, looking around them. The heroes found themselves within a large, metal room, with only dim, orange lights scattered across the roof and the large metal door they jumped in to give light. It was immensely dark where light did not shine. The only thing in the room was a large, tall, steel podium and an exit opposite of the podium.

"A bit roomy in here. You could add at least some furniture to brush up this place." Wario commented. He ended up getting a slap on the back of his head from Donkey Kong. "Hey! Who cares if this isn't the right time to joke. I'VE BEEN SWEATING IN THE DESERT FOR ALMOST 4 HOURS! I DESERVE TO LET SOME STEAM OUT!"

"WELL, SO HAVE I!" Donkey Kong roared at him. It took him a moment to realize how far he took his anger out. "Oh...sorry."

"...dude, that was pretty damn loud." Wario commented. "Cool."

"Guys, we should focus right now." Knuckles told them. Suddenly, they heard the army of badniks getting closer. They were no doubt going to fly into the hole with them inside. "Quick! Hide in the darkness!"

The trio scurried into the darkness, finding a hiding spot near the corner of the exit. They could only watch in silence as the army of badniks flew in one by one as they filled the room. Egg Fighters, Aero-Chasers, Aero-Cannons, Egg Launchers filled the room. And they were all lead by the Interceptor, who seemed to appear damaged.

"That guy again? I thought we got rid of him back in Mystic Cave zone." Knuckles spoke surprisingly. It didn't matter to him anymore. He just wondered what made all these badniks come to this place all at once. In fact, he didn't even think what this place was at all. Suddenly, it dawned to him.

"Is this Eggman's base?"

"We're in Eggman's base?" Donkey Kong repeated him. Knuckles shrugged. It seemed logical. All of Eggman's badniks retreated here. And Eggman had many bases built around their world. It made sense if this was another one of his.

"Attention. 1, 2, 3. Uhm...is this mic on?" a voice suddenly boomed throughout the room. All the badniks faced towards the podium to where the voice came from. The heroes looked and saw that none other than Eggman himself was standing in front of his army. "Aah! Good! I thought it'd be longer for all of you to finally get here."

"So that's what Eggman looks like?" Donkey Kong asked. Knuckles gave him a confused look, surprised that it was his first time seeing him. "Sheesh, he really does look like an egg."

"I bet he easily scrambles like one too." Wario said as he began cracking his knuckles. Donkey Kong chuckled and gave Wario a high-five. "See? I told you making jokes would let this desert fever disappear from us."

"Now that all of you are here, after a very _unnecessary _delay," Eggman said, looking over to Orbot and Cubot. After all, it had been them who released the badnik army in the first place. "we can finally initiate our next big project for world domination!" The badnik army cheered loudly for their ruler. At least at the best of their robotic voices allowed them.

"Geez, the boss can sure pump up a crowd. Go doctor!" Cubot whispered to Orbot before flailing his hands in the air to join the rest of his badniks in cheering. Orbot shrugged his shoulders and watched as the other badniks went crazy for their ruler.

"Now, before I announce what our plans are, I'd like to introduce a few new comrades that will be assisting us on our project." Eggman motioned his hands behind him as Bowser and Junior walked up to the podium for the badnik army to see them. "You can look to them as second-in-command."

"Mighty bunch you have here, doctor. You weren't joking when you said you had army of these bad boys." Bowser commented as he stared to the large number of robots gazing at him. "These guys better be as strong as you tell me."

"Hey, these robots sort of remind me of the robots I controlled. Remember papa? When we tried to invade the galaxy?" Junior said, tugging at his father's tail. Bowser nodded. The robots did remind him of Megaleg and Megahammer, one of the many things that Mario destroyed of them.

"This army alone should be more than enough for the heroes." Eggman assured them. "And even if there is a small chance my badniks fail, we still have Project U as our main defense. Nothing, and I mean _nothing, _can stop us!"

"This looks bad." Donkey Kong whispered. Hearing all about the villain's plan, the army of robots and this secretive Project U, it all overwhelmed Donkey Kong. Never before had he been up against this type of villainy power. "Knuckles! What do you have in mind?"

"Bowser stole the Master Emerald, right?" Knuckles began to explain. "So if he's here, then the Master Emerald also is. All we've got to do is find it." He looked over to the exit and motioned Donkey Kong and Wario to follow him. They snuck away from the badnik army and began traversing their way through Eggman's base.

"These hallways are so bare. All there is to look at is metal. Give some variety, Eggman!" Wario commented as he and the heroes made their way through the metal hallways lit up by red lights.

"Sheesh, since when did you become a home decor expert?" Donkey Kong complained to him.

"I'm just saying. At least add a carpet or some paintings. How troubling can that be?"

"How long are you two going to argue at each other? I thought you guys were friends or something!" Knuckles shouted back at them. Both Donkey Kong and Wario looked at each other and laughed. The thought of both of them being friends was such a ludicrous idea.

As the heroes passed by a hallway, they heard a soft, moaning sound. Curious, the trio walked into the hallway and came upon a locked door. Listening carefully, the sound turned out to be someone crying. Who would be crying in Eggman's base?

"Someone must be in trouble. Come on, help me open this door." Knuckles said. At first, Wario told them it was a waste of their time and they should be looking for the Master Emerald, Donkey Kong picked him up and threw him forcefully at the door, causing it to break from it's hinges and fall onto the floor, along with Wario.

"HEY! DID I SAY YOU COULD CHUCK ME AT THE DOOR? NO I DIDN'T!" Wario screamed furiously at Donkey Kong.

"It's what friends do." Donkey Kong replied, patting him on the back.

The trio looked around, realizing they were in a prison room. There were three cells in front of them. Two of them were empty, while the one in the middle held familiar faces to the heroes.

"Knuckles? Donkey Kong?" Amy said, both surprised and relieved they were there. She went up to the bars to get a closer look at them. "Oh my! It really is you! How did you get in here?"

"I should be asking you guys the same thing." Knuckles said. He looked behind her, seeing who else was in the cell with her. Behind her, was Peach, who was sitting down beside Cream, trying to comfort her. The two looked over and were happy to see them.

"Mr. Knuckles! Are you here to save us?" Cream asked as she wiped away her tears. Knuckles nodded. "Oh, joy! I was hoping someone would come to our rescue."

"Hey, we weren't here to rescue you guys. We were here to find the Master Emerald that Bowser stole!" Wario told them with a smug look. Donkey Kong ended up clobbering him in the face for his remark. "Hey! I'm just telling the truth! We wouldn't even save these women if we hadn't known they were here."

"Will you stop being a buzz kill and learn to be a hero for once? It's all about the money with you. You make me go bananas sometimes." Donkey Kong argued back at him. Wario was about to yell back when he thought about what Donkey Kong said.

"Hmph! I _can _be a hero. I just never feel like it sometimes."

"Well, well, if it isn't the knucklehead." a voice spoke. Hanging upside-down from the ceiling, was Rouge. She fell down to the ground and walked up to the heroes. "I was wondering how long it'd take for you to get here, knowing the Master Emerald is also lost in this place."

"Whoa, are you serious? How did an elite treasure hunter like you get caught from the likes of Eggman?" Knuckles said, both surprised and amused to find Rouge locked up in the cell. "So much for being one of the top spies for the government, huh?"

"You have to be so stuck-up with women, don't you?" Rouge teased him. Knuckles simply gave her a confused look. "Anyway, it's not important. Did you happen to find Shadow anywhere in the base? Eggman is hiding him somewhere and I'm afraid of what he's going to do with him."

"Oh, okay, so you want _me _to go find Shadow instead of helping you guys escape? I see how it is. So much for showing appreciation when needed." Knuckles said crossing his arms. Rouge gave him a stern look.

"Ugh, you have to be so defensive for yourself. I was just asking a simple question and you turned it all around on me. It goes to show that you really have no clue on how to talk to women."

"In his defense, we were dying in the desert for over 4 hours." Donkey Kong said, trying to back up Knuckles. But the damage had already been done. Rouge had already made her way back to her spot in the ceiling. "Dude, you really have no idea how to talk to a lady." Knuckles rolled his eyes and made his way out of the cell room.

"Donkey Kong." Peach called to him. The ape went up to her. "Please, I know this may sound insane, but you need to get out of here while you can." At first, Donkey Kong gave her a shocked look, but Peach quickly backed up on her statement.

"What I've heard from Bowser and Eggman, what they are planning, it's very dangerous. I'm afraid that the three of you alone aren't formidable enough to face them. I need you to go find Mario and Sonic. I have a feeling only they are able to help you stop them."

"Are you sure? But we can't leave you here." Donkey Kong told her. He grabbed the prison bars and was about to break them apart when she felt his hand with hers.

"Please. I know you're able to free us, but with the power that the villains hold, they'll stop us from escaping in no time and lock all of us in here. Please. I beg of you. You need to go find the others. Only then you may be able to stand against the tyranny that's about to be unleashed."

Peach gave a sincere look to Donkey Kong. The ape had a sad look, but it soon turned to determination. The strength he needed from his desert fever. He simply nodded to Peach and turned back, running out of the prison room. Wario followed closely behind him.

"Are you sure about this, Peach?" Amy asked her. The princess looked down to the floor, holding the prison bars at the same time. There was no doubt in her that the heroes would save them, as they always did. It didn't matter where they were. A castle sunken within lava or a metal fortress hidden within the desert. No matter what situation, she knew that good would always prevail evil.

"I know they'll be able to save not only us, but the world."

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: It's a whole new year. It's a whole new beginning. And by that, we all have our resolutions planned, am I right? Now I look back at this story and say, "Wow, I can't believe I made something so grand with a big of a following." And I felt really terrible about myself to have _had_ abandoned this story for almost 4 months. **

**This story is back for good, and it won't go away until we get to the ending. The true ending. No cliffhangers or anything, just the ending I promised to give to all you faithful readers. Sorry for leaving everyone in the dark, but let's focus on the future. So get ready, because these next few weeks are going to be epic. **

**This is one of my resolutions. And I intend to keep it. **

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respesctively~**_


	84. Project Initiation!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 84: Project Initiation!**_

* * *

_**Eggman's Headquarters**_

"What? Are you sure she said that? She must be nuts!" Knuckles said questionably as he, Donkey Kong and Wario rushed their way through the hallways of Eggman's base. Donkey Kong explained Peach's request to leave them as prisoners until they found the other heroes to help them aid their rescue. "Man, for a princess, she sure has a lot of courage. I'd thought people like her would be screaming at us to break her out of distress."

"Meh, she's still sort of bossy and needy," Wario commented. "Princesses like her can be persuasive. Not in the good manner though. I guess you can say the kingdom struck gold, with her being both brave and polite."

"Like how you always strike gold when you're digging for it in your nose?" Donkey Kong jokingly mocked him.

"WILL YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP!? DO YOU WANT ME TO BLOW ANOTHER FUSE AT YOU GUYS?"

"Fuse? What are you talking about...oh...please, no! No more farts!"

"Sheesh! You guys better stop arguing! Your constant screaming is giving me a headache." Knuckles argued back at them. He motioned them to be quiet as well. "And remember, we're in the madman's house. The last thing I need is Eggman finding us and sending his drones to attack us."

"Hey, I thought you dealt with this everyday, tough guy. You admitting you're weak and rather run away from from a bunch of cruddy cyborgs? What a way to show your strength!" Wario said, mockingly.

"Hold on now, are you actually insulting me?" Knuckles spoke, stopping in his tracks. He always hated it when people made fun of him, and wasn't going to let some chubby, double-chinned gold digger get the best of him."Why, you better take those words back before a shove your head up your butt!"

"Why don't you shove your head in my butt instead?" Wario talked back, turning around to stick his glorious moon right in front of Knuckles. The sight almost made him throw up. "Had a good look, knucklehead?"

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" Knuckles shouted furiously. His tolerance quickly disappeared and soon transformed into a tantrum. Knuckles threw himself at Wario and started beating him up in the middle of the hallway. Donkey Kong could only watch in embarrassment.

"Geez, is this how I acted when I shouted at Wario? Ugh! This really does give me a headache!" Donkey Kong said, plugging his ears to prevent Wario's loud screams for help from shattering his hearing.

As the two fought, ominous shadows loomed around the corner of the hallway they came from. Donkey Kong soon noticed, and realized Eggman's badniks were coming. Quickly taking action, he looked around for a hiding spot. The only thing closer to them was a huge, vault door with the words, "Project U" left slightly open. Without a word, Donkey Kong grabbed Knuckles and Wario and threw themselves inside, hoping to find to avoid being attacked.

If only they were to realize what danger they put themselves through.

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails's House**_

"My...my...m-my home!" Tails howled in agony. There, laying in front of him, was the remains of his destroyed house. After the battle between the heroines and Metal Sonic's group, the building was left to deteriorate from the damage. Parts of the wall had fallen, half of the rooftop was gone and all the furniture was either missing or scatter around in a mess of pieces. In general, the house was almost indistinguishable in the rubble.

"Who could have done such a thing?" Luigi asked, slowly walking over the remains of the house. Looking around, he tried to find the stairs to the house, but even then if he did, he couldn't climb to the second floor as the whole thing had fallen to the ground.

"Where are the others, though?" Yoshi asked. He tried sniffing around for their scent, hoping to find them somewhere in the rubble, but sadly he didn't. So many questions filled his curious mind to what happened to his friends. "Where's Donkey Kong? Knuckles? The girls? What happened to them? Did they disappear? Did they make this mess?"

"Looks like they were in a ruckus. Unless they went all out and had a very, and I mean _very, _wild party." Silver remarked, picking up a pile of gravel and letting it fall out of his hands. Blaze was beside him, inspecting the area. There was only one obvious answer to her.

"I have no doubt that this was the doing of Metal Sonic. Only a destructive tyrant like him would leave such a mess like this." Blaze said. She showed frustration on her face, reminding herself that Metal Sonic still possessed the Jeweled Sceptor. With it, the robot could wreck havoc anywhere he'd wanted to, endangering the whole world.

"Whatever happened here, we need to find the others. They could be in huge trouble right now." Sonic told them. Mario nodded. From the looks of things, their friends needed help. But how could they? There was no single clue on their whereabouts. While they pondered at the situations, Luigi and Yoshi helped Tails clean the area, setting up any furniture still in tact back in place and brushing away rubble.

"Well, on the bright side, at least my television works..." Tails moaned, looking down at the flat screen on the floor, surprisingly in clean shape. He decided to turn on his television just for the heck of it when something caught his eye on screen. A familiar cackle erupted from it." S-Sonic! You might want to look at this!"

Sonic looked over and gave a disgruntled look. "No way...Dr. Eggman!"

"Hohoho! Greetings to the entire world population! If you may not know who I am, shame on you!" Eggman announced on-screen. He was able to hack into all television stations around the world and broadcast live for everyone to see. Right now, he was standing inside what seemed to be a cockpit area of an airship. Beside him was Orbot and Cubot.

"Now, today marks a special, new era for the whole world. As of now, you are all under my rule! Behold, as I show you the city of tomorrow. I present to you, Eggtopia!"

Behind him, was a glass window, overlooking the clouds below. Suddenly, a loud, rumbling noise was heard. A humongous, floating fortress popped out from the sea of clouds. It was the grandest sight you could ever see in the sky. The fortress itself had two parts to it. The bottom part was simply a huge, copper-coloured mechanical cauldron part, with Eggman's logo slapped on the side. Underneath the cauldron of the fortress, was a huge cannon that popped out of it. On top of the cauldron, was a sprawling, neon-esque city. All the buildings were gave a dark glow and simply lit up with blue, orange and red lights throughout.

"This flying utopia will turn politics around for good!" Eggman exclaimed with sinister glee. "I have full power against you all on the planet. As you may have noticed the extremely large cannon compartment on the bottom. Here is my offer. I will give a time-span of 30 hours for everyone on the planet to travel on my Egg Drop Ships to my Eggtopia under my rule. If you're smart enough to value your life, you shall come with no arguments. Once time is up, I will activate the cannon, which will shoot a powerful beam onto the planet, blowing it up into smithereens!"

"Please, do not even attempt to resist. Doing so will just prepare us to blow the planet sooner than it necessary. Just make it simple for all of us and come to our fancy and _far_ superior city." Orbot explained.

"We even have free cake for all who come!" Cubot exclaimed, dumping his whole head into a whole plate of double-chocolate cake. "Mmm! It even has strawberries in it!"

"Now, we know there will be a certain group of _heroes _who will no doubt dare interfere with our utopian dream," Eggman remarked. He suddenly point out of the camera's frame. An Egg Fighter walked into the shot, and struggling in it's grasp was Cream.

"Mr. Sonic! Please! Help us!" Cream cried out. She had a terrified look in her eyes, as if she was about to cry.

"Sonic and Mario, if you are watching this, I'm sure you're furious about the well-being of your friends. If you treasure the life of theirs, you will come alone and we will do a simple exchange. I give back your friends in one piece, while you hand over the remaining Chaos Emeralds. One of my Drop Ships will pick you up this evening. Do we have a deal?"

The broadcast suddenly shut off, leaving the heroes staring at the blank screen, shocked.

"What the-Eggman is back? But...how?!" Yoshi yelled in panic. The heroes were dumbfounded as well. They weren't expecting the return of Dr. Eggman. The last time they saw him, he was doomed to sink into the lava around Bowser's Castle. But somehow he was alive and found a way back to his respective world.

"I did not expect this. I assumed this was all Metal Sonic's doing, but it appears that Dr. Eggman is behind this." Blaze said. A sudden feeling of anger burned inside her, yet she still retained a calm appearance. "I cannot believe he'd take drastic measures to even endanger Cream's life..."

"This is too much for me..." Luigi moaned, slowly backing down onto the ground. Silver went up to him and patted the plumber on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. Luigi "Do you see what we're up against? Eggman's got us trapped in a corner and even captured our friends! Not to mention the whole entire world is in jeopardy! Game over, man! Game over!"

"No, we're not done yet. We can still do this. Eggman has got nothing on us. He's only trying to scare us with these huge, complicated machinery he has. I should know, I've taken down hundreds of his fleets before." Sonic tried assuring everyone. He turned to Mario. "Come on, Mario, tell them we can do this!"

"..." Mario simply stared onto the ground and slowly shook his head. This caught Sonic by surprise. Why was a great hero like Mario, suddenly giving up? Sonic was about to protest to him when Mario cut him off. "Look, Sonic. Even us heroes have our limits. We may be considered brave, but it's because of that we're blinded of when we need to stop before things get to out of our hand."

"Noo...come on, you've got to back me up, Mario. Our friends need us, and we can't just give in to Eggman's demands like that!" Sonic argued back. He suddenly slammed his fist into the broken wall beside him, punching a hole into it.

"Mario's right, Sonic." Tails suddenly spoke. "Eggman has everything planned out for once. There's no way we can try to fight back without major consequences happening to not only us, but the whole world." Sonic began looking down on the ground. He reluctantly agreed or the first time in a while, feeling slight hopelessness in him.

"...then what do we do?"

_**4 hours later**_

* * *

It was evening within Emerald Town. A slight sense of anguish filled the atmosphere as Mario and Sonic walked across Emerald Beach, each carrying a two Chaos Emeralds with them. They looked back on the town. It was finally time for Eggman's Drop Ships to come and pick up any civilians who valued their lives and give themselves up to travel to Eggtopia.

Surprisingly, no one did come. Not one person from the town was stooping low enough to allow Eggman to rule over them. They would die with their dignity intact, knowing they did not surrender to the villainous ruler.

"I'm a bit surprised that absolutely no one in this town is willing to give themselves up," Mario spoke to Sonic. The two were staring out into the ocean as the waves calmly swept onto the beach. The two were close enough for the water to touch their feet. Normally, Sonic would be nervous, being this close to his worst fear. But he was thinking nothing about it. Just how the two were simply giving themselves up to their enemies.

"I still can't believe we're giving ourselves up. Feels a bit melodramatic. How is _us_ doing this winning the fight? I see no good thing about it." Sonic calmly complained to Mario. The hedgehog was not keen to giving up. He was always the one determined to fight against the baddies. To surrender themselves was unlike him. "To me, I feel like this town is being more courageous than us, not to give up against Eggman."

"Sonic, you need to trust me. There are other ways of winning a situations other than fighting. This is the best thing we can do at this point. A hero will do anything for the greater good, even if they aren't inclined to do it." Mario tried to assure Sonic. The hedgehog simply nodded back to him, but was still reluctant about their plan. All he could hope for is the best.

Suddenly, a small figure appeared out in the distance, blocking the sunset from view. As it slowly floated across the water, the heroes could see a better view of it. It was one of Eggman's Drop Ships. It had more of an appearance of a blimp, with complicated machinery on the underside. The balloon was dark red and had Eggman's logo on it. The steel machinery was where the cockpit was and on the sides were rotating propellers.

The Drop Ship slowly stopped in front of the beach. A small hatch door opened underneath, causing a lone platform to float out. On the platform, grinning evilly at them, was Bowser himself.

"Bwahahahah! Would you look at this? The heroes were smart enough to give themselves up! Deep down, I had a feeling you'd bow down to us." Bowser exclaimed, continuing to smirk at them. Mario and Sonic showed astonishment on their faces. Bowser took note of this. "You probably thought I was gone, hmm? You should know that a villain _always_ comes back, no matter what!"

"I knew you weren't gone forever." Mario talked back at him, giving the koopa king a bitter look. Even though he had many questions about what Bowser had been up to this whole time, it wouldn't change the fact that he was here, causing the heroes more stress than they already had.

"Hmph! Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" Bowser taunted him. He motioned them to bring the Chaos Emeralds they had to him. Mario and Sonic placed the emeralds on the platform Bowser stood on. He picked up the Red Chaos Emerald, grinning in satisfaction. "All right, now since you two are co-operative enough, for the time being, I'd like you to come ride with me back to Eggtopia. I'm sure the doctor would be thrilled to see you there."

"Yeah right. Tell him he can smell his own behind instead. I'd rather stay on this planet and die with it than giving myself up to Dr. Eggman." Sonic argued back, crossing his arms. Bowser shook his head, amused by Sonic's foolish determination. He knew they _had _no choice but to come with them. Especially with their friend's lives on the line.

All of a sudden, Mario and Sonic found themselves surrounded by a purple bubble of energy. At first shocked, they did all they could to break out of it, but it was no use. The bubble was indestructible. The bubbles floated them in front of Bowser, who laughed in victory at the heroes demise.

"How do you like it now, huh? Feels sucky to be trapped, doesn't it?" a voice called out. Looking behind Bowser, they saw Junior floating towards them on his own platform. In his hand was the Jeweled Sceptor. "Give up! The bad guys win!"

"Get comfortable you two, this is going to be a long ride." Bowser smirked. He commanded the platforms to carry them back onto Eggman's Drop Ship, while Mario and Sonic were helplessly being carried away onto it, captured.

The Drop Ship silently left Emerald Town with it's only two passengers.

* * *

_**Eggtopia, Egg Towers Top Floor**_

"Doctor, I have received confirmation that the Drop Ships from Mazuri, Empire City, Chun-nan and Spagonia have finally arrived." Orbot explained to Eggman. "As of right now, Eggtopia finally has a population of 9,343!"

"Good! Everything is going according to plan." Dr. Eggman said. At the moment, he was on the top floor of his tower, which acted as the main headquarters of Eggtopia. It was a tall, slim tower. The top of it was, of course, shaped like Eggman's head. The top floor was made up of a long, wide corridor, leading up to a platform where Dr. Eggman sat. He had his own throne and desk and large computer screens on the side of the wall, which connected to surveillance cameras that showed every inch of Eggtopia's city.

Behind his desk, was a window, which showed a glimpse of the entire city from above. The neon streets, the dark buildings, the crazy roads and highways, all being watched over by Egg Fighters, who acted as patrol men. Everything Dr. Eggman wanted in his floating utopia was right there. He was finally his own ruler of a city he built. To him, nothing could stop him. Not even the heroes.

"Have the heroines been escorted to their prison towers?" Eggman asked Orbot. The robot nodded. The doctor had demanded each of the heroines they captured to be locked in separate towers. He knew if they were together in numbers, they could overwhelm him. But by themselves, they were no match to fight.

"I've also checked the energy readings of the Master Emerald. According to my calculations, there are no signs of the fortress losing power. There is absolutely no chance Eggtopia will fall out of the sky as long as the Master Emerald is powering it." Orbot explained. "Uhm, but may I ask, doctor, what about Metal Sonic and Shadow?" Eggman nodded his head, saying everything was under control with both of them and they wouldn't have to worry.

"All I need know are the heroes in our grasp and the rest of the Chaos Emeralds." Eggman spoke, as he climbed out of his throne and stared out into his city. "Once we have them, we can finally assure our victory. We villains will have won this fight against the world. Our domination can soon begin!"

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I have some apologizing to do. First off, sorry for not updating last week. Some of you may know I was part of an Honour Band, but because I had practices all last week, I didn't have time to finish this chapter in time. Secondly, I wanted to add two chapters this week, but due to time constraints **_**again, **_**I could only post this chapter only.**

**Sheesh, sometimes I wish I had all the time in the world to write for this story. Oh well. :( **

**This marks a great turn of events for this story. An arc of two I've been waiting to tell. You know the Project U that's been hyped up the last chapters? This it it! Eggtopia is here! Although, don't think this is the last of the surprises I have for this story. Nope, I have tons more. Just you wait!**

**Have a great week everybody. Be sure to check my other stories. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	85. Welcome to Eggtopia!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 85: Welcome to Eggtopia!**_

* * *

_**Eggman's Drop Ship**_

The skies were filled to the horizon with soothing orange clouds as the sun began to set behind them. It was a relaxing sight in the evening. Silently soaring through the air was a lone Drop Ship of Dr. Eggman's. The ominous machine was on it's trek back to it's base of operations: Eggtopia, the dystopia of Dr. Eggman's dreams, which was positioned somewhere within the cloudy skies.

It's passengers were not too eager on the trip. Sitting within the prison cells of the Drop Ship were Mario and Sonic. The two prisoners awaited for the arrival into Eggtopia. Mario sat cross-legged in one corner of the cell, twiddling his thumbs around, whilst Sonic paced around in circles in an anxious pace.

"I can't handle this." Sonic spoke, breaking the silence that existed between the two heroes ever since they were brought onto the ship. "I feel like the walls are about to close in on me. I need to get out of here!"

"Are you claustrophobic?" Mario asked, raising an eyebrow towards Sonic. He'd never seen him this nervous before.

"Sort of," Sonic answered. He never liked being trapped in small spaces, especially during extended periods of time. Being used to running around at the speed of sound in wide, open areas, this very restriction was unnerving to him. "But that's not the only thing that's bothering me."

"Tell me then." Mario said, as he shifted to a more comfortable sitting position, ready to listen to Sonic's rant. "There isn't anything else to do in this cell, so enlighten me."

"I just can't believe we're giving ourselves up like this so easily." Sonic began to explain. He began to recall their plan. Bowser and Dr. Eggman had their friends as captives. They challenged the heroes to give up their remaining Chaos Emeralds if they wanted to see their friends in safety. Mario and Sonic decided to comply, allowing Bowser and Junior to take them captive with their emeralds and bring them to Eggtopia. "We're not even pushing a fight on them. This feels so wrong to me."

"You need to trust me on this, Sonic." Mario reasoned with him. "Being a hero isn't all about fighting the bad guys. It's also about doing the right thing. We can't risk our friends safety if we fight recklessly. Sometimes we need to play it safe."

"I understand what your trying to get at," Sonic told him. He shook his head still a little troubled with their plan. "This isn't something I usually do though. I just hope it works out in the end."

"Hey, I'm sure it will!" Mario exclaimed, giving him a thumbs-up as an assurance. Sonic grinned. Even at the worst of times, Mario still seemed to keep a positive attitude.

"Heheheh! How's the ride going for you stinkbrains?" a voice called out to them. Staring at them from between the prison cells was Junior. He held the Jeweled Sceptor within his hands. "The koopaling enjoyed the sight of seeing the heroes trapped under their control, especially after all the trouble they caused for them.

"I have to ask, what's up with that bib of yours? It's hard to take you seriously, considering you look like a big baby." Sonic taunted him. Junior didn't take light of the comment, obviously.

"Grrr! Just you wait until we get to Eggtopia!" Junior growled, pointing the Jeweled Sceptor at him menacingly. "Your lucky these bars are between us, otherwise I'd turn the both of you into ashes!"

Sonic simply rolled his eyes, while Mario rested his head on his hands, seemingly uninterested to what the koopaling was saying. Junior gave them a "raspberry" with his tongue as he marched back to the cockpit of the Drop Ship. He hated when no one could take him seriously, even if he was just a kid. He knew he was capable of doing nasty deeds. Even his papa knew it. On the other hand, everyone else seemed to underestimate him.

"Just you wait until I can get the _ritual_ up and running. Then we'll see if you'll take me seriously." Junior spoke to himself as he entered the cockpit area. Inside was Bowser, taking helm on the wheel as he calmly steered the ship through the sky. Looking out the window, a small speck stood out from the cloudy sky. It was none other than the flying fortress of Eggtopia. They were only minutes away from arriving.

"Is something the matter, Junior?" Bowser asked, looking down to his son and noticing the discontented look on his face. Junior shrugged his shoulders, seemingly uninterested to talk. Bowser noted his expression and returned his focus to steering. The two stood there for awhile in silence as they inched towards Eggtopia. It had only been a week since the father and son reunited, and yet there still seemed to be a distant connection between the two. The two experienced their own journeys while separated, which may have affected their relationship between one another.

"Junior, there is something I've always wanted to talk to you about." Bowser spoke up, breaking the silence between them. Junior looked up with curious eyes. His father seemed to have a serious expression on his face. "I'll just be straight with you. There _will_ come a time when I will have to step down from throne when I become old and you'll have to take my spot."

Junior nodded. He never took the time to think about becoming king of the Koopa Troops. He was just a kid after all! It was now that he realized that one day the position will be passed down to him from his father and he'd eventually have to step up his game.

"Being a leader holds many responsibilities. It's not all fun and games, you know. There will be moments when you'll have to decide what's best for your people. Your followers will look up to you and some may trust your judgement while others question it." Bowser told him. He looked down to his son and gave him an assuring nod. "But just so you know, no matter what you choose to do, I'll _always_ respect your decisions."

This words his Junior with powerful force. The one thing he ever wanted from his father was his approval of being a strong and independent being. Bowser seemed to show no doubt about his son. Junior looked down to the Jeweled Sceptor in his hand, remembering about the "ritual" he had planned to do.

"I will make you proud, papa. I know I will." Junior promised.

It was at that moment they were close to Eggtopia. The flying dystopia was colossal in size. Imagine a sprawling, neon city placed atop a gigantic, metallic cauldron with Eggman's logo in the sky. This is what Eggtopia looked like. Such an intimidating sight in the sky, yet it was a marvel to look at. A floating city in the sky was not something you would see everyday,

"We're here." Bowser spoke under his breath. He turned to Junior. "Get the prisoners ready. You know what to do."

* * *

_**Eggtopia, Drop Ship Station**_

The station was hustling with many Egg Pawns running back and forth, helping with the landing of the Drop Ships that carried the citizens from the planet who chose to give in to Eggman's demands of living in Eggtopia to avoid death. The station itself was huge. It was a gigantic building with many platforms for the Drop Ships to reside while unattended. There was a large staircase going up that led to the streets of Eggtopia.

Bowser and Junior walked out of their Drop Ship. Behind them, was Mario and Sonic, each floating in a bubble of magic cast from the Jeweled Sceptor which followed the villains and kept them trapped. The group walked through the busy crowd within the station, passing by Egg Pawns and the innocent people who had no clue on what to do after landing in this dystopia.

Exiting the station, Mario and Sonic got their first look at Eggtopia. The place was filled with towering, neon buildings, all having Eggman's logo plastered on them. The streets were made out of titanium metal. Everywhere you looked, Egg Fighters patrolled the streets, watching over the citizens and kept them in order under Eggman's rules. Some citizens looked scared, while others walked around in confusion. The sky, now covered with dark, red clouds, gave the place a more ominous feeling.

"This place feels gloomy." Mario whispered to Sonic, who nodded in agreement. None of the citizens wanted to be here, but because they were threatened with death, they had no choice. "Do you think they're holding our friends here?"

"Maybe. Where else would Eggman keep them?" Sonic said. He looked up at the buildings. A few Egg Flappers flew by over the rooftops, heading towards a cylindrical tower off in the distance, sparking Sonic's curiousity. "What are those towers for?"

"None of your business, spikehead!" Junior growled at him. Sonic raised an eyebrow. Why was he getting defensive all of a sudden? It's like they were hiding something from them. Sonic looked around the and saw another tower in the same shape in the opposite direction of the one he'd previously saw. He kept note of their locations.

The group arrived in an open area of Eggtopia. In the middle of the area was a large, gold statue of Eggman, posing with his fists on his hips. The statue was in the middle of a large fountain, which was shooting rows of water straight up in the air. A few feet behind the fountain, was the tallest tower within Eggtopia. The top of it's structure was in the shape of Eggman's head. This was the main base of operations of Eggtopia, where everything was being controlled.

"Is it me, or does Eggman's head look a little fatter than I remember it?" Mario asked, scratching his chin as he gazed at Eggman's head structure on top of the tower.

"Hmph! I guess your the only one who didn't notice." Bowser commented. For each opposing one another, it was rare for them to agree on something.

The group walked through the main lobby of the tower, entering a large elevator. As it closed, Junior went for the buttons and pressed the top floor. They felt a suddenly jolt under their feet as the elevator sky-rocketed to the top in a matter of seconds. As the doors opened, Bowser and Junior stumbled out of the room, dizzy from the motion.

"Geez! I hate elevators!" Junior complained as he held his hands to his head trying to soothe the headache the elevator ride gave him. He could handle being hit by fireballs and getting kicked in his shell, but elevator rides? No way, the motion sickness afterwards was his weakness.

"I guess being trapped in these magic bubbles wasn't such a bad thing after all." Sonic joked as he and Mario floated out of the elevator.

They looked around, finding themselves in a large, dark room. The only light that illuminated the place was the two big glass windows opposite of the elevator. The heroes realized the windows were in the shape of Eggman's eyes. They were in the Eggman head of the tower. Between the window was a wide, circular desk, with holographic monitors on the sides. Sitting in the center of the desk, was none other than Dr. Eggman himself.

"Boss, they're here." Orbot called to him, knocking on the side of the desk. He and Cubot were relaxing on the front side of the desk, playing a game of cards. Eggman faced the arriving group and stood up from his chair.

"Welcome, my friends!" Eggman exclaimed, holding his hands up to his sides and giving them a wide grin. Bowser rolled his eyes at the doctor's gesture. For someone who recently became a dictator over an _unwilling_ population, he was a little superfluous on the cheerful side.

"Alright, doctor. Here is what your looking for." Bowser said, going through his shell and taking out the Chaos Emeralds that Mario and Sonic gave up.

"Ah! Splendid! Set them aside on the glass case behind me, if you will." Eggman said, pointing at the wall behind him. Bowser walked over and placed the Chaos Emeralds within the glass case, beside the rest of the emeralds. It was at that moment the all seven of them glowed together at once.

"All seven emeralds. Finally together at last." Junior spoke in astonishment. He knew getting the seven together would be hard work, but finally it happened. He looked back down to the Jeweled Sceptor. "It may still be possible..."

"Junior, if your so kind as to release the prisoners from their bubbles? And afterwards, hand me the Jeweled Sceptor. You won't be needing that anymore." Eggman asked. At first, Junior was surprised he wanted to release the heroes, but asking for the Jeweled Sceptor back? He only recently got it back in his hands, and now he had to return it. He felt as if Eggman didn't trust him with it. It all seemed unfair to Junior.

"Whatever..." Junior spoke as he pointed the Jeweled Sceptor at the heroes, causing the bubbles trapping them to disappear. Mario and Sonic landed on their feet, surprised from the action. Junior returned the Jeweled Sceptor to Eggman, who placed it on top of the glass case holding the Chaos Emeralds.

"So what's with the random act of kindness, doc? Did ruling your own city suddenly change your behaviour or what?" Sonic asked as he stretched his legs, relieved to be free for once.

"Let's be honest, your not actually interested in what I have to say, am I right, hedgehog?" Eggman answered. Sonic shrugged and nodded. Eggman turned and looked out one of the windows. "I'll be honest. I feel no difference over this new ruling I've blessed myself. with It's the same thing as controlling a thousand of my badniks into doing my bidding."

"I'm not getting it. You saying your not satisfied with what you've accomplished?" Sonic questioned. He scratched his head in confusion. He'd never understand what villains want. "Geez, make up your mind, doctor. You've got everything right here. What else is it that you want?"

The room was filled with silence as everyone waited for Eggman to answer. He slowly turned his head back to Sonic. He gave him a devious glare.

"I've ruled this utopia of mine for only a few hours. Sitting here, contemplating about the situation made me realize something. The only satisfaction I'll ever have is I get rid of you!"

Suddenly, the darkness around the room became illuminated with the flashing lights of many badniks that appeared in the room. They had been hiding in the dark all this time while the heroes and villains conversed. All had one thing in mind: destroy Mario and Sonic.

"Hey! What a cool surprise! I didn't expect that." Mario exclaimed. He eyed around the room, seeing the large number of badniks focused on them. It slowly overwhelmed him. "Mamamia, I don't think we can take all these guys at once."

"Any last words, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Eggman asked, before commanding his badnik army to attack. Sonic gave out a simple yawn before crossing his arms in disinterest.

"You know, Eggman, your not the only one who can come up with surprises." Sonic said, giving a smirk towards him. At first, Eggman gave a puzzled look, until a crash was heard. Rolling across the floor were two yellow, metallic bombs. Eggman looked to his windows, seeing how they crashed through.

"DUCK AND COVER!" Cubot screamed, before he and Orbot jumped behind Eggman's desk. Bowser and Junior quickly retreated into their shells. The badnik army panicked. Some clung behind each other, while others ran around the room in fear of the bombs exploding.

**CLICK!**

The bombs did not go off. Everyone looked at them in confusion, then towards the heroes, who seemed to have stayed calm during the whole ensuing chaos. The two looked at each other and winked.

"We'd like to repay you with your fine hospitality, Eggman!" Sonic exclaimed, before he and Mario each grabbed a bomb and chucking it towards the ground. An explosion of rings shot out from each bomb, filling into the room of the tower. The rings shot out at extreme speeds and piled into a rapid rate. Badniks were getting thrashed by the ring explosion, while Bowser and Junior's shells spun around the room as they were hit. Eggman, Orbot and Cubot hid behind the desk as the ring explosion continued.

The explosion kept going until rings started to fill to the top of the room. When the room was full and couldn't handle the capacity of rings, the rest of the windows broke apart, causing all the rings to pour out of the room. From the outside, it appeared as if Eggman's head was crying out waterfalls of rings. All the rings fell to the ground and fountain below. Citizens below were amazed and confused at the sudden ring rain.

"What in the world was that?" Bowser shouted, peeking out of his shell to see what damage the ring bombs had done. Badniks were collapsed on the floor, some broken to pieces. Leftover rings were scattered across the room. Eggman, Orbot and Cubot peeked out from under the desk, seeing the damage as well.

"Hey! Where did Mario and Sonic go?" Junior asked in panick. The villains looked around, seeing the heroes no where in sight.

"They must have jumped out of the window when the rest of the rings fell out!" Orbot suggested. "It's a very clever plan to ride the explosion out to freedom."

"Noo!" Eggman shouted in frustration. He looked out the destroyed windows, seeing the mess of rings on the ground below. He began to wonder how the rings bombs crashed here in the first place. He looked up towards the sky and in the distance saw a large, golden-yellow aircraft flying towards Eggtopia. "Hmph! Looks like we have company."

Eggman turned back and looked towards Bowser. Seeing the expression on his face, the koopa king nodded and rushed back to the elevator. Junior quickly followed him. Eggman went up to his desk and pushed a big red button, causing a loud siren to screech from the tower and alert the rest of the Eggtopia.

"Whoa! What's up with the loud, scary horns playing outside?" Cubot asked, covering his robotic "ears" from the sound.

"I have alerted all of our badniks in the city of an oncoming threat." Eggman explained to the robots. He turned back to look outside the window, seeing many of his flying badniks rushing through the sky towards the enemy aircraft. "Right now, their duty is to eliminate any signs of Sonic and his friends. Eggtopia is under attack. I'm not letting them take away the power I've worked hard to overtake."

"So what exactly is the plan, doctor?" Orbot asked. Eggman explained how all the flying badniks would intercept the aircraft above. The badniks on the ground would search for Mario and Sonic within the city. "Do you think that will be enough to stop them?"

"No. That's why I'm instructing you to _awaken_ him." Eggman demanded. At first, Orbot and Cubot were confused, until they remembered who _him _was.

"Certainly, doctor! I'm sure now that we've got _him_ under our control, he'll surely stop Sonic!" Orbot said confidently. He and Cubot ran back to the elevator to activate their accomplice. Eggman continued looking out the tower's window while the sirens continued to blare out.

"This _will _be the end!"

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: After many months of writing, editing, revising, all that technical stuff blah blah blah, here is the new chapter! Woohoo! To be honest, it didn't take months to write this chapter. I've been busy lately with other things that I haven't had the time to write any stories. So I decided to put off fanfiction until the summer, where I was guaranteed more time. Sorry for the long wait once again! **

**This time, I intend to finish this story by the end of this summer. No more putting it off this time. It's been almost THREE years from today since I'd began writing this story. I don't want to leave it hanging unfinished. It wouldn't feel right to me. So expect more chapters appearing sporadically. I have no fixed schedules, so always check back for new chapters everyday!**

**Oh, and continue to check my profile for my other stories. I'm planning on making another one based on a more "mature" game. **

**Thanks for all your support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

******~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	86. Fighting the Fleet!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite! **

_**Chapter 86: Fighting the Fleet!**_

* * *

_**Skies of Eggtopia**_

"Did it work? Did our bombs work?" Luigi asked in urgency as he grabbed on the back of Tails' chair, looking over to the dash board of the Star Fighter. Tails checked over any signals of detonation. He nodded. Luigi gave out a yelp in glee. "Yes! We helped Mario and Sonic!"

"That is one step down." Blaze said, walking over to them as she ran over the plan the heroes made through her head. There were three major components to their plan: Insertion, Assault and Extraction.

Insertion smoothly went according to plan. Mario and Sonic would pretend to give themselves up to Bowser and Eggman, bringing along their Chaos Emeralds and Jeweled Sceptor with them. Meanwhile, the other heroes would secretly follow the Drop Ship to Eggtopia, where they would help free the two using dummy ring bombs as distractions.

Assault is what was currently happening. Knowing Eggman would send out his badnik army against Mario and Sonic, the rest of the heroes would help fight back in the Star Fighter. At the same time, they'd also find a way to overturn Eggtopia and destroy the flying fortress.

Extraction is what would Mario and Sonic would take care of. While the heroes fought against the enemies, the duo would search for their captive friends within Eggtopia and rescue them. Once they were all saved, they would help evacuate the citizens trapped in the city, board their Star Fighter and head back home.

"What do we do now?" Yoshi asked the others as he and Silver joined them inside the cockpit. The heroes looked out the front of the Star Fighter, noticing the incoming badnik fleet, ready to eradicate them out of the sky. Yoshi gave a panicked yelp. "Oh boy, there's a lot of them outside!"

"You need to get us over the city first," Blaze explained to Tails. He nodded, quickly diving the plane towards Eggtopia. A few of the flying badniks charged towards them, preparing to shoot. Tails responded by opening firing, shooting back at them using the Double-Bazooka guns on the sides of the Star Fighter. The badniks exploded upon impact on the bullets, allowing the Star Fighter to fly just above the rooftops of Eggtopia.

"Okay guys! Get ready for the drop!" Tails called back to them. In a hurry, Blaze and Silver headed towards the doors of the Star Fighter, opening them so they could jump into the city below. The strong wind brushed against them as they held onto the aircraft, preparing for the drop.

"Tell me again why _we _have to dive head first into the dangerous city? It's not like I volunteered for this." Silver asked, looking down nervously. "And I thought you were afraid of heights! Your the last person I'd see doing this."

"You have to face your fear at some point." Blaze responded. She took a deep breath. They were about to make a terrifyingly long drop. She felt like she'd gone mad doing this. Seeing the uncertain look on her face, Silver gently held her hand and smiled, which gave Blaze the confidence she needed.

"Alright! Jump! Now!" Tails shouted back to them. Without hesitation, Blaze and Silver stepped off the Star Fighter and plummeted down towards the city. Right as they reached the ground, Silver used his telekinesis to slowly float themselves and land safely. They proceeded through the streets, ready to fight whatever badniks were thrown at them.

"Where are they going?" Yoshi asked, quickly closing the door to the Star Fighter.

"They're going to take out the force within the city. Try and make Mario and Sonic's job easier while they find our friends." Tails explained as he piloted around the rooftops.

"How about us? What are we supposed to do?" Yoshi asked. He was puzzled. Why didn't all of them just go down to help Mario and Sonic? It seemed much more efficient to him.

"We're covering the air!" Luigi answered, patting Yoshi on the back. He then came closer to whisper in his ear. "Actually, Tails is covering the air., since he's flying the plane and all. We can just sit back and watch!"

"My treat!" Yoshi exclaimed. He quickly scrambled over to the food bar inside the Star Fighter's passenger quarters. Even in the midst of all the action, Yoshi still had a big appetite.

"Looks like we've got a few bogeys on our tail." Tails spoke to himself, looking on his radar and spotting a group of enemies behind him. This wasn't a problem. With a press of a button, a Laser Blaster popped out from the hood of the plane. Aiming back at the badniks, it shot out a barrage of lasers towards them, destroying them in a matter of seconds. Tails smiled at the small victory. "Hah! Sorry Dr. Eggman, but your machines are _no _match to my Star-powered plane!"

Tails continued the air assault, swerving past the rooftops of Eggtopia and flying circles around the enemy badniks, sweeping them out one by one with the Bazooka Cannons and Laser Blaster functions. It practically rained broken badnik parts below the streets. During Tails' badnik spree, Luigi and Yoshi casually filled their stomachs with the various treats inside the food bar.

Food was important, no matter what the situation was!

"Hey! Are there any leftover doughnuts in the fridge?" Luigi asked, wiping away some cookie crumbs off his mouth. Yoshi looked over him with a guilty look, his face covered in chocolate from all the doughnuts he'd eaten. Luigi gave a disappointed groan. "Darn it, Yoshi! You've got to control yourself with that hunger!"

"Sorry..." Yoshi apologized with his mouth half-full. Luigi rolled his eyes, then grabbed an apple, changing the pace from the sweets he'd eaten. Yoshi licked off the chocolate from his face, then proceeded to stuff it with the vanilla cake inside the fridge.

"How's the assault going?" Luigi asked, casually taking a bite from his apple. Tails didn't answer, as he was too focused taking out the badnik fleet that continuously charged at them. No matter what Luigi said, Tails "I'd take it we're doing fairly well, considering the plane didn't blow up yet. Can you hear me? Wow, you look a little serious. Yoshi ate all the doughnuts."

"What?" Tails said in surprise,

"Oh, so that gets your attention. I see what your priorities are."

Those few seconds of a distraction may have been no big deal, if something hadn't crashed against the side of the Star Fighter and caused it to tumble in the air for a few seconds. Tails quickly maneuvered the plane to keep it from crashing. The heroes were left in shock momentarily. What just happened?

"Guys! Did you feel that?" Yoshi yelled, running into the cockpit in terror. His entire face was covered in vanilla icing from the cake he was eating before the plane suddenly spiralled in chaos. "

"Uhm, you've got a little something on your face." Luigi pointed out, wiping away some icing from Yoshi's nose, who gave him an annoyed look before licking the icing off.

"What in the world was that?" Tails spoke, trying to keep a calm tone. Looking over the dash board, he saw on one of the monitors showing the left wing of the Star Fighter had been damaged. Tails tilted his in in curiosity. "How could a regular badnik do that much damage to my plane?"

Luigi and Yoshi gave out a terrified gasp. Tails looked out the window to where they were staring at. Flying outside beside them was the Interceptor. The giant, flying robot with arms and lasers was back for vengeance once again! It looked like Eggman had repaired it's injuries from it's previous encounters with the heroes.

"This guy again? Come on! I've had enough of him!" Luigi shrieked. He started to rock Tails chair back and forth in panic. "Do something! Do something! Do something!"

"Okay! Calm down!" Tails told him. Grabbing a hold of the wheel, Tails quickly turned the Star Fighter around and aimed behind the Interceptor, shooting a barrage of bullets at the robot. It had no effect as the bullets rapidly bounced off. The Interceptor answered by throwing another punch towards the Star Fighter. Tails steered the aircraft upwards to dodge it, but the Interceptor's fist reached the nose, causing the whole machine to flip downwards.

"GAAAHAHYAHAGA!" Luigi and Yoshi screamed as the tumbled throughout the falling aircraft, holding onto each other. Tails held onto the wheel as tight as he could. Just as they were about to crash into a building, the Star Fighter regained it's flight and flew past it, missing it by inches.

"Don't worry! I've got it all under control!" Tails assured the others. Luigi and Yoshi simply gave him a thumbs-up as they lied on the floor, dizzy from the near-fatal crash. "This plane's made out of the strongest metal in our world. Not even a punch from the Interceptor could break it!"

"Well, how about a giant, menacing laser?" Luigi asked as he clumsily got up. Tails gave him a confused look, then looked out in front of the plane. The Interceptor had quickly fired a powerful laser beam towards them, causing the Star Fighter damage on the right wing. Now both sides of the plane began smoking.

"Tails! You need to do something! Please!" Yoshi pleaded with him. He was not looking forward getting crushed by the hands of the Interceptor. At that moment, the robot was charging towards them, preparing to deliver a final blow with it's fists.

"What do I do, what do it do?" Tails said to himself, looking around the dashboard for options. None of the Star Fighter's weapons he'd used would work against the Interceptor, knowing it was much more durable than before. Suddenly, Tails' eyes focused on a button. It was yellow and shaped in a star. It was a function Tails had built in case of an emergency scenario. He knew the risks of using it, but would it work?

"Only one way to find out." Tails said. He slammed his fist onto the button. Outside, a large, star-shaped cannon appeared from underneath the Star Fighter. It began to glow as it charged up. Immense energy conjured up within the cannon.

As the Interceptor was mere inches away from them, the star cannon fired a bright beam of supreme star energy, splitting through the body of the robot, causing it to break in half. The pieces of the Interceptor flew down towards Eggtopia below, blowing up on impact against the buildings.

"Oh...my...gosh...that was amazing!" Luigi exclaimed, jumping in victory. "

"Well, realizing how much potential energy the Power Star possessed, I didn't want to let it go to waste. So I created an emergency weapon for situations like this." Tails explained, happy to have taken that risk. "It's kind of a last resort option."

"A last resort? What does that mean?" Yoshi asked, skeptical about the term.

"It means the plane runs out of energy when it's used."

"...say what?"

All of sudden, the lights inside the plane shut down. The dash board lights turned dim, The three of them felt the motion of falling inside the plane. They soon realized the Star Fighter was making a drop right towards Eggtopia.

And it was taking them with it.

"Quick! Open the doors!" Tails shouted, pointing towards the exit. The three of them dashed towards the exit. Luigi and Yoshi grabbed for the doors and flung them open. They jumped out, just as the Star Fighter crashed into the ground, exploding on impact. The fiery explosion was powerful enough to throw the heroes across the streets of Eggtopia. They rolled across the ground and took a moment to catch their breaths.

"Ugh! I'm never taking a ride on a plane _ever_ again." Luigi moaned as he slowly got to his knees, struggling to get up. Yoshi was on all fours, giving out raspy coughs. Tails was rubbing the side of his body as he attempted to soothe the pain. This was the closest they had come to death.

"Well, there goes another one of my machines." Tails groaned. He gave a sorrowful look at the sight of his destroyed Star Fighter. Bits and pieces of it were scattered across the streets, most of them on fire. He sighed. When would he get a break from all his machines being destroyed?

_Whatever. I can just rebuild them. _Tails thought to himself, before turning to his friends to see if they were well.

"What happened to the Power Star inside?" Yoshi asked as he was helped up by Luigi. They had no sure idea of it's fate. Most likely due to it's energy being drained by the Star Beam, it disappeared into nothing.

The three stood there in silence as they mourned about the loss. The Power Star had represented the adventures the heroes had back in the Mushroom Kingdom. It was their only evidence of their journeys, and now that it was gone, it felt like a piece of them had died inside.

It shouldn't have mattered though. Whether they had the Power Star or not, they still retained the memories.

"Well, I guess we're stuck having to run around in this _dump!" _Luigi complained, referring to the streets of Eggtopia. The three looked around, gazing upon the numerous neon lights that lit up the dark and ominous dystopia. The red clouds in the sky only made it feel more menacing.

Suddenly, they heard many metallic foot steps marching in the distance. Looking back a few blocks behind them, they were welcomed with the sight of an army of badniks charging towards them. In front of the army, were a group of innocent citizens running for their lives, yelling for help. Tails turned back to Luigi and Yoshi, who both gave a simple nod. The three faced the army of oncoming badniks and prepared for battle.

"We may have fallen, but we're _not _giving up!"

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Whoa! Didn't expect this chapter to be up already, didn't you? As I told you before, I'm determined to finish this story. I've already even started working on the next few chapters. This is just my way of saying sorry for making everyone wait months to see what happens next in the story. I'm putting all my focus and effort on completing this in my spare time. **

**Thanks for all of your support. Be sure to check out my other stories. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

******~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**


	87. Aiming for Power!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 87: Aiming for Power!**_

* * *

_**Streets of Eggtopia**_

The streets were in chaos. The loud sirens emitting from Egg Towers blared out into the distance. The captive citizens were running around in panic as they wondered what to do in this abrupt situation. Around them, Egg Fighters marched around slowly, picking up citizens one by one and throwing them all by the side of the buildings. They aimed their guns at the people, instructing them to stay calm or they would be forced to shoot.

"This is madness, you hear me? You can't pin us against the wall and threaten us! We should have the freedom to do what we want!" shouted an old man. He was an Apotos citizen in his early-fifties. The man walked up to an Egg Fighter and faced the robot, standing in a dignified position. As a programmed response, the Egg Fighter punched the man down, causing him to tumble back against the building wall he was pinned to.

"Noo! You can't do that!" a woman yelled, running over to the Apotos man and helped him up. The woman was dressed like a reporter, most likely originating from Empire City, and was her mid-twenties. She turned to the Egg Fighter and argued. "We're humans! Not animals! You cannot just lure us here and try to tame us like wild beasts. What kind of dictatorship are you trying to force upon us?"

"YOU MUST OBEY EGGMAN'S ORDERS! OR DRASTIC MEASURES WILL BE TAKEN!" the Egg Fighter announced in it's robotic voice. It aimed it's guns towards the two, intending to finish them once and for all for their disobedience.

Luckily for them, a miracle happened. A few feet a way from them was a manhole on the street. The cover began to shake, and suddenly out popped three figures. The three landed on the streets and faced the Egg Fighters. They all posed in a heroic battle positions, ready to take out the enemies.

"Let's go bananas on them, boys!" Donkey Kong commanded. He charged towards the Egg Fighter holding the man and woman hostage and threw a sturdy punch at it, crushing it's sides and making it fly towards it's comrades, knocking them all down to the ground.

"For freedom!" Knuckles roared, running towards another Egg Fighter and uppercutting it in the air. The badnik flew high into the air, then fell back down into a group of other Egg Fighters. The all piled onto one another, struggling to get up. Knuckles prevented them from doing so, instead delivering a powerful blow on all of them. He jumped above the Egg Fighter pile and dove down, spinning like a drill and turning them into scrap metal.

"Say hello to my little friend!" Wario growled. He walked up to a group of Egg Fighters. At first the robots aimed their guns at him, but were surprised when Wario turned and pulled his butt out towards them. Suddenly, his stomach began to rumble as pressure built inside of him. Wario gave out a loud groan as he let out the biggest fart blast ever. The whole entire street became filled with a disgusting, garlic odour and was covered in the nasty, thick cloud of fart.

"Bwahahah! Oh yeah! I was saving that one up for a special occasion!" Wario exclaimed as he smiled at his success. It took a few minutes for the effects of the fart bomb to disappear. All of the surrounding Egg Fighters were reduced to lifeless bodies, as the effects of the fart bomb malfunctioned their circuits. Unfortunately, the people around them suffered from the raunchiness of the waft. Everyone was coughing and gasping. Some almost threw up from the terrible smell that saved them.

"Wario! Come on! When I said go bananas, I didn't mean to _that _extent!" Donkey Kong complained as he began to wave around him, trying to get the scent away from his nose. Wario stomped in fury as a response.

"HEY! SHOULDN'T I GET A THANK-YOU FOR SAVING ALL THESE STUPID PEOPLE?!" Wario shouted angrily. His tantrum caused Knuckles to slap him behind the head in annoyance. Wario gritted his teeth at him. "I dare you do that again."

"For once, can you just calm down?" Knuckles pleaded with him with a tone of force in his voice. He had no time to deal with Wario's temper tantrum, as they had a bigger problem to deal with. "We still need to find the Master Emerald. I can sense it's energy around here somewhere."

"What about all these people? We can't just leave them here. They don't like this place." Donkey Kong reminded Knuckles as he helped people up from the ground. He was given various thank-yous from them for their heroic deeds, making Donkey Kong smile in embarrassment. "Aw, it's no big deal. We're just trying to help!"

"We can still help these people. It's a matter of priorities. We need to find the Master Emerald and take it out of Eggman's hands first. It'll help the people in this city in the long run." Knuckles explained. He knew as long as Eggman had the emerald with him, saving these people now would do nothing. Donkey Kong agreed, whilst Wario continued to pick his nose in disregard.

"Okay, I'll play along with your plan. Where do you think the Master Emerald is in this giant garbage dump?" Wario asked. In reality, he didn't care about the well-being of these people. All he wanted was to find the Master Emerald. A jewel of tremendous size definitely interested him, and as the only reason he stuck with the heroes, or "clowns" he liked to refer to them.

"I have a good feeling about that tower over there." Knuckles suggested, pointing over to a tall, cylindrical tower a few blocks away from them. The three powerhouses began their trek towards the tower, hoping to get there without any badniks detecting them.

They never thought their journey would lead them into Eggman's dystopia. A simple mission to rescue the Master Emerald turned out to be an entirely perilous journey for them. Beginning from Tails' house, leading them to Shamar Desert, then within Eggman's Secret Headquarters, finally boarding onto Eggtopia by accident was not a task they had prepared for. But they continued to endure the challengers thrown at them. Was it because of their brute strength? Their ever-growing courage? Their strong bond with one another?

Nah, it's because they had _no _choice to be together. This was their only option. And luckily, it worked.

"Okay! I'm going to scale the side of the tower. You and Wario can trying breaking your way through the inside." Knuckles explained to Donkey Kong, arriving at the perimeter of the tower. It was built within an open, circular area surrounded by the other buildings. Donkey Kong nodded to their plan, while Wario protested against it.

"Why do you get to climb the tower? Isn't that an easier job than fighting through a bunch of badniks" Wario growled in frustration.

"It's obvious the badniks won't let the Master Emerald get taken without a fight. So I'll be waiting outside the window when you reach the top. You guys can just chuck it out the window and I'll catch it, then I'll glide to an alley where they can't find me." Knuckles explained his plan.

"Yeah right, you'll probably just sneak away with it after we hand it to you." Wario complained under his breath. "That emerald is going to belong to _me!_"

Knuckles began climbing along the side of the tower. As an experienced climber, he shot up the wall within seconds. Donkey Kong and Wario threw their punches together at the metallic doorway, smashing it down with ease. Inside was a group of Egg Fighter Knights blocking the stairway leading to the top. The two easily overtook them, dodging their swords swings and breaking through their shields.

"Take this!" Donkey Kong yelled as he threw one of their shields at the robots. It ricocheted off their bodies, bouncing off each of the Egg Fighters and taking all of them out. Unfortunately, Wario was in the way and the shield slammed against his head.

"GAH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Wario snapped at him. He groaned in pain as he rolled back and forth, rubbing his head to try and soothe the pain. Donkey Kong apologized and rushed up the tower stairs, while Wario clumsily followed behind.

Meanwhile, Knuckles continued scaling up the tower. It took him only a few minutes to reach the barred window near the top. Using all his brute strength, he slowly bent the windows apart, allowing a gap for him to fit through. Squeezing into it, he found himself in an empty room. Opposite to him was a door that appeared to be locked. To his dismay, there was no Master Emerald to be found, but what he found in the room surprised him.

"Rouge?" Knuckles spoke in surprise. Present in the center of the room was the bat herself. Her hands were chained up to the ceiling and she was left hanging there on her own. Knuckles walked up to her and crossed his arms. "Well, it's nice to see you hanging around."

"Oh, shut up and help me out here." Rouge told him. She tried to look annoyed, yet she was glad someone was here to bust her out of there. She also felt a little embarrassed. Out of all the heroes, Knuckles had to find her like this. She wondered how long he'd tease her about this afterwards.

"I thought bats like you liked to hang around like this." Knuckles joked. He ended up taking a boot to the face from his snide comment. Ouch. That was the last time he'd joke around like Sonic would. He climbed up the wall and across the ceiling. Tugging the chains with all his might, he broke it out of the ceiling, freeing Rouge.

"As much as I hate to admit, you always seem helpful when the time comes." Rouge said, with hesitance in her voice. The chains around her hands still lingered, so Knuckles helped ripped it off her, causing her to yelp in pain in the process. "Ow! And yet, you still have no idea on how to be a gentleman to a lady."

"Woman these days, still complaining on how they don't have enough in their lives. Typical."

"Say that again?"

"KAPOW!" a voice shouted as the door to the room was knocked down. Donkey Kong and Wario scrambled into the room, expecting to find the Master Emerald. All they got were strange looks from Knuckles and Rouge. The two slowly backed away awkwardly. Donkey Kong spoke. "Uhm, were we interrupting something?"

"Were you two making out?" Wario suggested, giving a devious grin as he fiddled with his moustache. Knuckles looked away, while Rouge rolled her eyes away from them, bothered by Wario's disgusting behaviour. Wario began laughing, which soon turned into shock as he realized the Master Emerald wasn't there. "Hey! Wh-where's the Master Emerald? You said it'd be in here! YOU LIED TO ME!"

"I didn't lie! I was...wrong." Knuckles yelled back. He felt a little ashamed in front of them. The two trusted his instincts, but ultimately, it led them to a dead end. "Sorry guys. I guess I'm not a good leader after all."

"Good for you to admit it. Maybe your not a knucklehead _after_ all." Rouge said, knowing her snide comment would annoy him. She proceeded to ask how the three had got in Eggtopia in the first place. Donkey Kong explained their situation with the Master Emerald and how it managed to put them through this whole mess.

"Ahh, the joys of treasure hunting. It hits the greedy side of us." Rouge sighed, walking over to the tower's window and sat on it, gazing out across the neon city. She had to admit, the brightly lit buildings fascinated her, even though it's true atmosphere was sinister. "I _may _have a clue to where they hid the emerald."

"You know where it is?" Wario exclaimed, rushing up to her. He went down to his knees and begged. "Come on! You have to tell us! I _need _to find that emerald!"

"Take it easy before you wet your pants. I had overheard those two robots of Eggman talk about this factory in the city that led to where the Master Emerald was being held. I'll show it to you boys, but that's only if you can keep up with me."

Rouge turned around and winked to them, before jumping off the window and gliding over the city rooftops with her bat wings. Knuckles quickly followed her, jumping out and using his dreadlocks to fly after her. The others could only watch in awe as the two flew across Eggtopia, leaving them behind. Wario turned to Donkey Kong and gave him a solemn look.

"Can you fly?"

"Does it look like I can?" Donkey Kong responded. As he and Wario chased after the treasure hunters, he began to wonder what happened to his other friends who had been captured by Eggman. Peach? Amy? Cream? Even Shadow? Rouge was with them before. Where were they now?

Looming out in the distance, were three other prison towers, each holding something important to the heroes.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: An important heads-up for you loyal readers. From now on, new chapters for this story will be posted every Tuesday and Friday evenings, so make sure to remember this. Jot that down on your calenders, write a sticky note to remind you, whatever helps you remember. **

**Oh yes, I also have a special update on my profile, so go check it out right now!**

**I appreciate for everyone's support! Thanks for reading! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega respectively~**_


	88. Escape!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 88: Escape!**_

* * *

_**Inside the Prison Tower**_

The inside of the tower was silent, with the only noise being the Egg Fighter Knights marching around, guarding the area. They had one goal in mind: keep watch over their captive prisoner. At the moment, two of the robots paced back and forth in front of a door. Behind it, was where the prisoner was held. At the moment, it was silent.

"THIS DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT?" one of the badniks spoke, stopping in it's tracks. It leaned over to the door and listened carefully. "THE PRISONER HAS STOPPED MAKING NOISE. WE MUST SEE WHAT THEY ARE DOING."

"WE MUST FOLLOW EGGMAN'S ORDERS!" the other badnik spoke. "IT'S OUR DUTY NOT TO LET THIS DOOR OPEN! DON'T TELL ME YOU HAVE CONCERN OVER THE PRISONER'S WELL-BEING!"

"ONE PEEK WON'T HURT US. I'LL GO BY MYSELF IF I'M REQUIRED TO!" the badnik responded. It slowly opened the door and walked inside. Hanging above the floor with hands chained towards the ceiling, was none other than Amy. She had her head lowered towards the ground, her eyes shut, appearing as if she'd fallen asleep.

"THE GIRL MUST HAVE TIRED OUT AFTER SCREAMING FOR 5 HOURS STRAIGHT." the lone badnik spoke. Losing interest, the robot was about to turn around and head back outside, when suddenly it was kicked by the behind. They fell on the ground, in the process of dropping their sword and shield up in the air.

_**SLASH!**_

Landing on her feet, Amy turned over to the fallen robot. She had used the earlier opportunity to kick the robot and use the sword they'd drop to cut through the chains that hung her on the ceiling. Her hands were still chained together though. Looking around the room, she found her Piko Piko Hammer lying against the wall by the window. She rushed to it.

"NOO! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" the other Egg Fighter Knight shouted, seeing his fallen comrade on the floor and Amy reach for her hammer. The robot charged towards her, but not before Amy grabbed her weapon and swung it forcefully at them, knocking them out of the room. She walked over to the other fallen Egg Fighter.

"This is why you don't underestimate a little girl!" Amy spoke with a tone of threat in her voice. She proceeded to crush the robots legs with her hammer so they couldn't get up. "Your lucky I'm nice enough not to finish off the one robot who helped me escape. Thank you by the way!"

"YOUR...WELCOME...?" the fallen Egg Fighter spoke. It watched as Amy ran out of the room, preparing to face the rest of the badniks within the tower.

"THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED! THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED!" an Egg Fighter Knight alerted the rest of the tower. The rest of the robots rushed up stairs, intending to take out the escaping prisoner. They ended up running back down in fear, seeing who they were up against.

"This is what you get for hurting my friends!" Amy shouted as she slid down the spiralling staircase, riding along the shield of the Egg Fighter Knight she had taken out. She swung her hammer around furiously, taking out every robot that unfortunately got in her path. She reached the bottom and used her hammer to knock the tower exit down, jumping off the shield and began running through the streets of Eggtopia.

"That wasn't so hard!" Amy exclaimed, smiling proudly over her accomplishment. "Who needs to wait for a guy to rescue you when girls can already take care of themselves?"

Turning around a corner, she was suddenly faced with an army of badniks charging across the street. At the same time, people were running away in fear. Amy was shocked at the sight. Clutching her hammer, she prepared to help the people on the street.

"Eggman makes me so mad! How could he build this city only to harrass the innocent people?" Amy growled as she was about to charge towards the badnik army. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted in the air. She struggled to get loose. Looking behind her, she realized an Aero-Chaser had grabbed her, accompanied with another. It's buddy faced her and prepared to shoot it's laser at her.

"Let her go!" a voice shouted. Out of nowhere, Tails slammed the charging Aero-Chaser into the ground and stomped it with his feet until it was destroyed. Luigi came to help Amy, kicking away the Aero-Chaser holding her, causing her to fall to the ground, only to be caught by Yoshi, who let her sit comfortably on his saddle.

"Hey Amy!" Yoshi greeted her with glee. Amy smiled, relieved to be with the other heroes. Luigi came up and greeted her.

"Just hold on for a minute while I break these chains of yours." Luigi told her as he yanked on her chains, causing Amy to yap in pain. Tails stopped him and pulled out one of the swords he'd taken from an Egg Fighter Knight he took down.

"I think this would be more effective." Tails said. He carefully aimed the sword and swung it down between Amy's hands, breaking the chains that bound her. Amy thanked the heroes. She and the others turned back to the army of badniks on the street. They all got into their battle positions.

"Where's Sonic?" Amy asked them, looking around to notice the blue hedgehog wasn't there. Tails explained that he'd gone into the city earlier with Mario to rescue their other friends. She smiled. He may have been late to save her, but this was the perfect opportunity to show him that she could handle taking care of herself and maybe impress him

"CHARGE!" Luigi shouted in a battle cry. The heroes ran towards the badnik army with full force.

* * *

_**Streets of Eggtopia**_

"Keep going!" Blaze called out to Silver as she took out a group of Egg Fighters around her by pulling off a spin-kick and igniting her whole foot on fire, burning the robots to pieces. Silver was across the street from her, levitating robots and throwing them back at the enemy. The two had been fighting through city for a little more than an hour, hoping their efforts of wiping out the badniks would make Mario and Sonic's job a bit easier.

"These guys just keep coming, don't they?" Silver called back to Blaze, simultaneously crushing a few badniks to bits with his telekineses. He was caught off-guard for a moment as an Egg Fighter Knight slashed it's sword behind him, causing him to fall onto his stomach. Blaze helped by performing a fiery tornado kick, swatting the badnik a few feet across the street. She helped Silver up, who thanked her.

"No sweat, just remember to keep focus all around you." Blaze told him. Silver nodded, before using his psychic powers to throw away a few badniks who threatened to sneak up on her. She gave him a smile. "Your quick to return a favour."

"I know." Silver responded, smiling back to her.

Just then, they heard a cry for help in the distance. The two looked around, checking to where the scream was coming from. Silver pointed up to a tower a few blocks away from them. It seemed that someone was calling for help at the top.

"Could that be one of our friends?" Silver asked, turning to Blaze. She was shaking her head, not in denial, but in disgust. She instantly recognized who it was. The child-like pitch in their voice. Their fear in their tone.

"I'm coming Cream." Blaze said. Her whole body suddenly lit up on fire. She took a step back, before rushing through the badnik army in a fiery boost, leaving behind a path of burned and destroyed badniks.

"She appears to be furious." Silver spoke in surprise. He levitated himself in the air and quickly followed her. Reaching the perimeter of the tower, Silver saw that she'd taken out the badnik guards outside and was charging her way up the tower already. "Okay, looks like she doesn't need my help."

Blasting through the spiralling staircase, she took down every badniks that came in her way. She reached to the top, knocking out the guards with one swoop of a fiery kick. She walked up to the door and touched it, burning it to ashes. Entering the room, she found Cream and Cheese chained up in the room.

"Cream!" Blaze called to her. Her fury soon turned to calmness as the fiery igniting around her body died down. She ran up to them and used her fire abilities to melt the chains and free them. The three embraced each other as Blaze ran her hands across Cream's back, comforting her. "It's okay. I'm here."

"I was so scared. Cheese and I thought we'd be stuck here forever." Cream cried as tears rolled down her face. Cheese floated by her, giving a sad look seeing his friend break down. Blaze wiped away the tears off Cream's face.

"I'm here now. I won't let anything bad happen to you." Blaze promised her, giving her a genuine smile. Cream nodded. She trusted Blaze. She let the cat carry her out of the tower, while Cheese followed them closely behind.

Outside, Silver was waiting for them. He had taken the time to pile the destroyed pieces of the badniks Blaze took out next to the prison tower's walls. Blaze walked out, with Cream in her arms and Cheese floating by them. Silver was surprised to see her and was concerned to what happened in the tower. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine now." Blaze assured him. She looked down to Cream, who rested her head upon Blaze's chest. The poor thing. Who knew how long she'd been trapped up there, unaware if anyone would have come and rescued her. Luckily, she was freed and didn't have to go through the torment of being a captive anymore.

"Come on, we need to find Mario and Sonic." Silver told them, looking around to see if any enemies were close by. "It's not safe for us to stand out here in the open. Badniks could attack any minute."

Blaze nodded. She and Silver began their way through Eggtopia's streets. They wondered how much progress Mario and Sonic had made in rescuing their friends. Cream was with them, so the two must have been able to rescue another, if not two of their friends. As they ran through the streets, a voice suddenly called from above.

"Stop." the voice shouted. Blaze and Silver stopped in their tracks, looking up to the figure on the rooftop. The figure jumped down in front of them. He gave them a serious look as the heroes stared at him in awe.

"Shadow! You're okay." Blaze said, relieved to see him. At first they were glad to see him. But they soon felt uneasy as he simply stared them down. Something was not right. Getting a closer look at him, Blaze realized that Shadow's eyes were not the usually color, but were completely black. "Shadow? IS something wrong with you?"

Shadow didn't answer her. Instead, he gave her a quick look and shot a spear of Chaos Energy at her by surprise, knocking her and Cream back a few feet. The two rolled across the ground, crying out in pain from the attack.

"Hey! What's wrong with you?" Silver shouted. He shot a wave of psychic energy back at Shadow, but he was able to dodge it and throw a punch right into Silver's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him back next to Blaze and Cream. Silver began to wheeze as he attempted to speak. "What...happened...to you..?"

Shadow gave them an emotionless stare, as if he was a robot. He was not acting normal. The heroes assumed Eggman did something to him while he was captured along with the Cream and the others. Was he under a mind-control? Was this even the real Shadow? It was hard to tell. All that mattered was they were within his grasp. Shadow walked up to the fallen heroes and held an open hand up to the sky. A flashing ball of Chaos Energy appeared in his hand as he prepared to finish them off.

"Please...Shadow." Blaze pleaded with him, to no avail.

All of a sudden, Shadow was knocked to the side, landing against the wall of a building. He shook his head and got back on his feet, looking towards the one who sneaked a blow on him. Standing across from him, with his arms crossed, was Sonic.

"Sonic!" Blaze called to him. The hedgehog looked back to them and motioned for them to escape. The heroes didn't complain. Picking up Cream, she and Silver booked it out of there.

"I don't know what Dr. Eggman did to you, but you have to snap out of it, buddy." Sonic tried convincing him. But Shadow didn't listen. Instead, he threw a spear of Chaos Energy at him. Sonic dodged it with ease. He shook his head. "Hmph! So talking to you won't work? I guess your asking for a beating then." He got into battle position, Shadow mimicking him.

"No hard feelings. Alright?"

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: This is the point where characters start to come together and big moments are about to happen. The action speaks for itself. I just want to inform everyone that chapters 89-92 are finished and will be posted in the next few days, allowing me to focus on the big "finale" I have planned for the last 8 chapters of this story. Exciting, right?**

**Make sure to check my profile on what new stories I plan to release in the near future. I'd like your opinions on them. **

**I appreciate everyone's support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	89. To the Rescue!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 89: To the Rescue!**_

* * *

_**Eggtopia, Prison Tower**_

"STOP HIM!" an Egg Fighter called out. At the moment, the tower they were guarding was being attacked. The Egg Fighters tried to fight back, but they were no match to the single enemy they tried to subdue. One by one, they were being knocked out with every stomp thrown at them.

"Yahoo!" Mario exclaimed, jumping from one Egg Fighter to another, stomping them on their heads and kicking them down the spiralling stairs. He slowly climbed up the tower, his goal on rescuing whoever was trapped inside.

Earlier, Mario and Sonic had been running through Eggtopia after their little stunt back at Egg Towers which allowed them to escape Bowser and Eggman's grasp. They'd been running through the city for almost an hour, trying to find their friends while fighting their way against oncoming badniks. They had no luck finding anyone. Sonic had suggested to check over the various smaller towers across the city that he'd seen prior to entering the place. To save time, the duo split, Sonic heading to one tower while Mario headed to another.

"And nothing is going to stop me!" Mario shouted, dodging an Egg Fighters punch before jumping over them and kicking them down the stairs. He soon reached the top of the tower, surprised to find the prison door open. Curious, he ran into the room, realizing that half of the wall had been broken down, leaving him the view of Eggtopia outside. This confused Mario, as before entering the tower the top seemed to be intact.

"Bwahahah! Looking for someone?" a voice called down to him. Standing on an anti-gravity platform floating outside was none other than Bowser. He laughed at Mario, who was too late to rescue the captive prisoner in time. In his hand, dangling from her chains, was Peach.

"Mario! Help!" Peach called to him. She struggled to escape from her chains as she looked down to the city below. It would be a long drop for her if Bowser threatened to let go.

"If you want her so badly, come over here!" Bowser challenged, giving Mario a devious grin, angering him. The plumber took a few steps back and did a running start, jumping out of the tower and diving towards Bowser. Just as he was about to reach him, he was knocked away from the side by a fireball.

"Noo!" Peach cried out, watching helplessly as Mario tumbled towards the ground below.

"Hahah! Take that, plumber boy!" Junior taunted, sticking his tongue out. He floated on his own anti-gravity platform beside his father. Bowser praised his son for his efforts. Junior grinned, watching Mario fall to his demise. "Now all we have to wait for is the splat!"

Mario screamed as he inched closer to the ground. As all hope seemed lost for him, he was suddenly caught in the air. Looking up to his savior, was Tails, who saluted him with a smile.

"Seems like you need some help." Tails said in a lighthearted tone. He pointed down to the ground as Luigi, Yoshi and Amy called up to them. The heroes looked up to where the koopas were holding Peach, realizing they were escaping. Tails looked down to Mario. "Hold on tight. We're going to save that princess of yours!"

"Hey! They're leaving without us!" Luigi said in a panicked voice, watching as Mario and Tails chased after the villains in the air. Luigi motioned Yoshi and Amy to follow them. An ensuing chase was on.

"Get back! You won't win!" Junior shouted back at them. The group flew through Eggtopia, taking sharp turns by the buildings. Tails followed closely behind them, propelling his tails as fast as he could. Mario held on tightly to the fox's hands. Seeing how they were chased, Bowser commanded Junior to breath fireballs to hinder them. Junior nodded and did what he was told.

"Look out!" Peach called to them, warning them of Junior's fireballs. The koopaling shot a fireball at them from his mouth. Mario and Tails quickly dodged it. Junior fired a few more at them, with the heroes managing to dodge them as well.

"Hold still!" Junior shouted angrily, before shooting another fireball at them, only to miss again. He crouched on his anti-gravity platform, showing signs of exhaustion. Bowser turned to see his weary son. He was still a young koopaling, so breathing out fire tired him quicker.

"Rest, son. Let me take care of them." Bowser told him. He turned his anti-gravity platform backwards and faced the chasing heroes. Bowser breathed out a barrage of blue fireballs that homed in on them. Mario and Tails managed to dodge the first few, before being caught off-guard by one. The fireball hit them, causing them to fall down to the ground.

"We've gotcha!" Luigi called out, running to save the heroes. He managed to jump and catch Tails in the middle of the air, while Yoshi dived on the ground to catch Mario on his saddle. The two thanked them for the rescue. Luigi looked up and noticed Bowser and Junior getting away. "They still have Peach!"

"Quick! Go after them Yoshi!" Mario commanded him. The dinosaur did not hesitate and ran after the escaping koopas. The other heroes followed behind, only to realize they were getting left behind. Yoshi was running at a fast pace, his legs trotting quickly along the ground, eyes focused on the villains in the air. There was no chance he'd let them get away.

"Papa! Look!" Junior called to him, pointing down to Mario and Yoshi. Bowser growled at the sight. Of course they hadn't lost Mario. He was chasing after them like an obsessed fan wanting an autograph from their favourite celebrity, except the stakes were higher and much more serious.

"I know where we can lose them. Follow me." Bowser said to his son. They both increased the speed of theri anti-gravity platforms. Peach screamed as they picked up their pace, which caused her to dangle behind from her chains.

"We can't lose them. Keep it up, Yoshi!" Mario told him. Yoshi kept silent, focusing on maintaining his speed to keep up with the villains. They ended up following them through a narrow alleyway with many twists and turn within. The koopas easily flew through the space, careful not to crash against the sides of the building. Mario and Yoshi had their work cut out for them, as they had to jump over and slide underneath obstacles in their way, such as misplaced metal crates and pieces of broken badniks that were thrown away.

The group reached the end of the alleyway and were now in an open area of Eggtopia. Bowser and Junior headed towards a large, metallic factory within a gated area. It had the logo of Eggman's face on the front and had three tall, active smokestacks shooting out black smoke. Outside the factory within the gated area were badniks guarding the place. It was assumed this was the place where the badniks were being built.

"Let's see how they'll get through this." Bowser said in a demonic voice, looking down to Mario and Yoshi as they entered the factory's gated perimeter. Both him and Junior flew into an open window of the factory. Peach cried out to Mario as they entered.

"We have to get inside the factory!" Mario demanded. He looked around and saw a large exit at the front showing the inside of the factory where shelves of crates holding badniks parts were seen. Unfortunately, the exit had a large, automatic sliding door that was about to close. He demanded Yoshi to get them inside.

"I can't go inside." Yoshi told him. At first, Mario gave a surprised look, before the dinosaur winked at him. He came to an abrupt stop and flung his back forward, throwing Mario off his saddle and towards the closing factory doors. Mario landed on the ground, rolling forwards, just stopping right behind the doors as they closed shut. Yoshi sighed in relief, glad to have gotten Mario inside.

"I hope I did the right thing." Yoshi said. He sat down in the middle of the factory yard and began to breath heavily, obviously exhausted from the chase. The other heroes eventually caught up with Yoshi.

"Where's Mario?" Amy asked, looking to Yoshi, then around the factory's yard. Too exhausted to speak, Yoshi pointed to the factory in front of them. Amy gave a shocked look. "He's in there with Bowser? All by himself?"

"I hope my brother knows what he is doing." Luigi said, a little bummed that he couldn't be with him to help. But he had no doubt that Mario was capable on taking Bowser by himself. He already showed it in their past battles.

As the heroes were about to take a rest, they heard the gates of the factory close behind them. Badniks had locked them within the factory yard and almost an army of them surrounded the heroes.

"They won't give us break, won't they?" Tails groaned. He flew up into the air and prepared to fight. Amy raised her hammer and clutched it tightly. Luigi helped Yoshi up, still exhausted from all the running and patted him on the back. Yoshi nodded and faced the badniks, growling at them furiously.

"Give it your all, guys." Luigi said to them, before they attacked.

* * *

**_Eggtopia, Badnik Factory_**

Mario quickly got up on his feet and wiped the dust off his overalls. He wasn't expecting the stunt Yoshi pulled on him. But he did manage to get inside the factory where Bowser took Peach with him. He gazed around the factory. It was dimly lit, with the only light coming from the windows placed high on the walls. The factory itself was huge, but had many shelves placed in the area, stocked with metal crates.

_Where did he take her?_ Mario wondered, looking around the factory. He was about to walk around the shelf in front of him when he spotted a badnik walking up to him. He quickly hid behind the shelf and peeked from it's side to take a closer look.

This badnik had a different look than all the other badniks he'd seen. Unlike the usual goofy appearances they took, this badnik had a more menacing look to it. It was a white robot, with a tall body and wide limbs. One hand had a machine gun, while the other had a missile launcher in it's place. It's head had a single, blue plate of light, unlike the usual Eggman face.

_That looks like a robot I don't want to fool around with._ Mario thought to himself. Instead of fighting, he decided to sneak by the robot and hopefully find where Bowser was hiding.

Sneaking to the other side of the factory shelf, he carefully took quiet steps as he crouched, hiding from the robot. It turned out that the factory floor was full of these robots. Mario had to be careful and made sure they didn't spot him. Using the metal crates and shadows to his advantage, he hid within them to pass by the robots. As he passed by a fallen metal crate, he looked at it's contents. It held the parts of the mysterious robot Mario had seen. Looking at the side of the crate, he read the label.

"Egg Gunners? Sounds a lot more menacing than the other robots." Mario spoke to himself. He didn't realize he'd spoken too loudly when an Egg Gunner had found him and began opening fire. Mario panicked and dove behind a metal crate. The Egg Gunner didn't hold back. Aiming it's missile launcher at the crate, it fired and caused an explosion, propelling Mario away from the force.

"Mamamia! These robots are serious business!" Mario groaned, climbing out of the crate he had fallen in. Looking around the factory, he realized he was surrounded as numerous Egg Gunners floated around them, aiming their guns at him. "They can fly too? This is bad!"

The Egg Gunners shot wildly at Mario, who ran for his life through the factory floor. They chased him around the shelves, trying to shoot him down. Mario dove behind the shelves and took the minute to think. How was he going to handle these guys now?

Turning to his side, he saw a door on the opposite end of the room labelled, "Authorized Personnel Only."

"I have no other option. Oh well." Mario spoke. Taking a deep breath, he charged for the door. The Egg Gunners saw him and opened fire. The bullets ricocheted off the floor and walls, missing Mario only by a couple inches. He managed to reach the doorway, slamming into it. He quickly locked the door behind him, only to be pushed back by the force of an Egg Gunner punching the door, leading a dent on it.

"Eggman must have been saving these robots for a serious threat. These guys don't hold back!" Mario spoke. He knew he only had a few moments before the Egg Gunners crashed in and ambushed him. Looking around him, he saw a large flight of factory stairs winding downwards. Taking the chance, Mario ran down them.

As he climbed down, noises of gears grinding and metal bending became imminent. Where were these stairs taking him? Mario looked around as he climbed down, seeing a sign built on the side of the stairs railing. He read it.

It was labelled, "Generator Room"

"What could be down there?" Mario wondered to himself. Suddenly, he heard a cry from below. It sounded like Peach! Picking up his pace, it took him a few minutes to reach the bottom of the stairs. Luckily, the Egg Gunners weren't behind him. Maybe they had given up. It didn't matter anymore.

Now at the bottom, all Mario found was a long, metallic hallway leading to a doorway at the end. He ran towards end, hoping to find Peach on the other side. The sound of loud gears turning and metal clanking was loud. Was Mario in the mechanical body of the city? The area that kept everything running?

Mario slammed through door and looked around him. He was in a large room. On the sides were moving gears, pipes and various other mechanical parts that were in motion. A railing ran around the room, so people could not reach the machinery. Mario was on an upper-platform, which ran along the side of the room. Below him, was a large, glowing machine in the center of the room, with a cage around it. Inside of it, was the Master Emerald. It flashed inside it as it's power was being used to power Eggtopia and keep it afloat.

On the opposite end of the room, was Junior. He held on the chains that bound Peach, who was hanging off the platform's railing. Waiting in front of the generator was Bowser. He stood there in silence, looking up to Mario with intimidating eyes. He finally spoke.

"So, this is where our showdown will take place."

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Action, action everywhere. That's what this chapter is about. Glad you guys are enjoying the story arc so far. I've worked really hard on planning what happens next. I already have a general idea on how this _whole_ story will end, all I need to do is write the chapters to it. I'm sure it will leave a satisfying feeling once this story is complete.**

**I've made a few updates on my profile regarding my new stories I plan on releasing, especially on my new Mario fanfic I've already started with. I suggest you go check it out if you're curious. Your thoughts on them are very important to me.**

**I greatly appreciate your support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively.~**_


	90. Showdown!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite**_**!**_

_**Chapter 90: Showdown!**_

* * *

_**Streets of Eggtopia**_

The two hedgehogs stared each other down in the street. Between all the chaos and rampage happening within the city, the two stood calmly in the wake. Growing bored of their stand-off, Sonic began doing leg stretches to pass the time before the eventual battle. Shadow, under brainwashed effects from Dr. Eggman, simply stared as the Sonic warmed up.

"You know, you're kind of making this awkward for me." Sonic said, looking up to meet Shadow's stare while bending down on one knee to stretch the opposite leg. Shadow didn't answer, staying completely silent. Sonic gave an annoyed look. "Your surprisingly quiet. This is usually the part where you talk back to me seriously."

Shadow still didn't answer him.

"Fine, don't talk. Why don't we just-" Sonic spoke, before taking a punch to the stomach by Shadow, who charged towards him mid-sentence. Sonic landed behind the building behind him. Before he could say something, Shadow lunged at him again, throwing another punch. Sonic jumped out of the way, causing Shadow to break through the brick wall, leaving a hole where his fist landed.

"Hey, come on! Play fair! Otherwise where's the fun in a good fight?" Sonic complained, rubbing his stomach from the hit. He wished Shadow would talk back, but the emotionless expression he showed from the effect of being brainwashed proved otherwise. Sonic wondered how he could snap his comrade back to his senses.

"Why don't we go for a little run?" Sonic suggested. He charged up a spin-dash before launching himself down the street. Shadow quickly followed in pursuit.

Sonic ran through the streets at breakneck speed. Eggtopia around him appeared to be a dark, neon blur. He drifted across the streets, twisting though the rioting badniks he passed along the way. Shadow followed behind, using his Chaos Control ability to boost through the badniks, destroying them on contact.

Just how Sonic planned for it to be. Take a leisurely stroll through the city while the guy trying to kill you cleans the place of dangerous robots.

"Come on! I know you are faster than that!" Sonic shouted back. He increased his speed and began boosting through the streets, a blue aura of wind appeared in front of him from the effects of running extremely fast. Shadow imitated him, but instead lifted his feet off the ground and floated through the air. An orange aura of wind appeared in front of him, due to the Chaos Energy being used.

From an aerial point of view, the two appeared to be balls of light chasing each other through the streets like it was a game of tag. The two continuously boosted through Eggtopia, crashing through objects and plowing through hoards of Eggman's badniks.

"Yeah! This is what I'm talking about!" Sonic exclaimed, feeling the rush of speed getting to him. He closed his eyes and let the wind flow through his quills. He was enjoying running so much, he forgot about his battle. Shadow took this as an opportunity to boost ahead of him. He jumped in the air and shot a powerful Chaos Spear towards the blue hedgehog, knocking him off his feet and causing him to roll across a great distance on the ground. Sonic slowly got up, seeing the burns he received on his skin from running too fast.

"Geez, don't interrupt a guy who's enjoying the moment." Sonic complained. He looked around, finding Shadow no where in sight. Suddenly, a light flashed behind him, followed by Shadow tackling him down onto the ground. Sonic moaned in pain.

"Didn't I tell you already? No cheap shots." Sonic argued. Turning towards him, he noticed Shadow continued to stare at him in silence. Sonic gritted his teeth. He had enough of the brainwashed attitude. "Okay, now your getting on my nerves. It's time to finish this!"

The brainwashed Shadow slowly walked towards him, but Sonic had enough of his games. He quickly charged a spin-dash and shot himself at Shadow. He drilled into his body as they both flew across the street. They rolled into the side of the building. Changing his angle, Sonic spin-dashed upwards across the wall, bringing Shadow along with him. They smashed the windows on the side as they rolled up the building.

Reaching the top of the building, they rolled into the air. Sonic changed out of his spin-ball form and grabbed Shadow by the chest. Flipping the both of them so Shadow's back was facing the ground, Sonic did a swift front-flip and kicked Shadow down across the forehead, slamming him towards the ground. Shadow's body dropped at a fast pace and reached the ground, causing parts of the road to break, leaving a crater where his body landed.

Sonic slid down the side of the building, landing safely back on the ground. He turned to where Shadow had landed. Sonic was surprised by the effects of his kick. He wasn't aware how strong it would have been. Oh well.

Looking down the crater, he saw Shadow's body. He wasn't moving at all.

"Hey, Shadow! Are you alright?" Sonic called down to him. He got no response. Worried, Sonic slid down the crater and up to his body. He began shaking it. Still no response. Did Sonic do what he thought he'd never do? Did he actually...

"No, no, NO!" Sonic shouted in denial. He threw his fist down onto Shadow's body, which caused him to yelp in pain. Sonic's faced changed from panic to relief as Shadow moaned in pain, slowly sitting up. "Oh...uhm...hey buddy!"

"What...what happened? Why does my head hurt." Shadow complained, rubbing his head as it throbbed in pain. Sonic gave an awkward smile and held his hand out to help him up.

"It's a long story. Come, I'll explain things along the way."

* * *

_**Eggtopia Chambers, Generator Room**_

The two foes faced one another as the sounds within the generator room went on about it's business. The Master Emerald continued flashing brightly inside the generator. Junior and Peach could only watch in anticipation as Mario and Bowser stared each other down. The tension between them gradually rose.

"Many times it has come to this," Bowser started to speak. He began to pace back and forth, keeping an eye on his foe. He was determined to squish Mario like a bug. He should have finished the job by now, seeing as he was a giant, turtle monster. But for some reason, Bowser always lost to the 'stached plumber.

"In the past, it's always ended with you on top. Things are about to change." Bowser threatened Mario as smoke started to smoke out of his nostrils. The anticipation to finish off Mario built inside him. He couldn't hold his urge anymore. "I _will _finish you off! And I'll make sure I do it today!"

Bowser breathed out scorching hot flames towards Mario. He quickly dodged it. Bowser followed the plumber, continuing to breath fire out of his mouth. Mario had no choice but to run around the perimeter of the room to prevent getting burned. This continued until Bowser tired out from fire-breathing.

"My will to destroy you will _never _tire out!" Bowser growled. He jumped up onto the platform Mario was running on, causing it to break and bend. Mario tripped and slid towards Bowser. He snapped his mouth at him, intending to take a chomp out of his body.

Mario quickly got to his feet and jumped, stepping off of Bowser's head and soaring over his body. Bowser quickly turned around and swatted Mario away from him, throwing the plumber towards the generator where the Master Emerald was.

"Noo! Mario, get up!" Peach called to him. She hated watching Mario battle, especially when he was getting hit. On the other hand, Junior hopped from side to side, enjoying seeing his father landing a throw on Mario.

"I have no concern over to what happens within this flying fortress of Eggman's," Bowser explained, jumping back down next to Mario. His weight caused the whole room to shake. Mario struggled to get up, having his back against the generator. "But as long as I get rid of you, I don't care what happens afterwards! If we end up ruling the world, that would be great! But my dream would have already been fulfilled at your defeat!"

Bowser's claws twinkled as he slashed them towards Mario. Fortunately, he prepared for the attack and dodged it by rolling on the floor. His action caused Bowser to slash through the generator's control panel, causing sparks to fly out. Bowser, shocked, wondered where Mario had gone off to.

"GAH!" Bowser howled as he felt something tug the back of his tail. Looking back, he saw Mario had sneaked behind him and grabbed it. Using all his strength, Mario began swing Bowser's body around in circles. Peach and Junior's heads followed Bowser as he helplessly spun around in circles.

"Noo! Not this again!" Bowser shouted in panic, realizing what was about to happen. Sure enough, his fear came into reality. Mario let out a loud grunt as he threw Bowser right into the generator, causing a great amount of damage on it. More sparks started flickering out of it, with the addition of smoke emitting. Noises of malfunctioning was heard. Mario and Bowser looked to each other in panic.

"Uh-oh!" Mario gasped. Right after, the generator exploded, shaking the entire room and filling it with smoke.

A few moments later, the smoke cleared. The entire generator was gone, along with the Master Emerald. What was left in it's place was a giant, gaping hole in the middle of the room, leading outside into the sky. It turned out the generator room was at the very bottom of the cauldron part that carried Eggtopia, therefore blowing up the room left a hole in the bottom of the structure.

To make things worse, seeing as the Master Emerald generator was gone, nothing was there to power-up the floating fortress. Meaning the entire place was doomed to fall.

"Look what you've done!" Bowser roared to Mario. The two were holding onto the floor as tightly as they could to prevent themselves from getting sucked out from air suction the hole was creating, due to Eggtopia moving around in the sky.

"This doesn't look good." Junior said in a panicked voice. He stared at the hole in the center of the room, then to Mario and Bowser, who were a few feet away from getting sucked out. What could he do?

"Junior! You need to do something!" Peach called up to him. He was still holding onto her chained hands. Suddenly, the force of the air suction became stronger, causing Junior to lose balance and fall off the platform he stood on. Falling to the lower level, he grabbed onto a piece of metal stuck on the floor with both hands.

Unfortunately for Peach, she was headed towards the hole. With her hands bound, all she could do was scream.

"PRINCESS PEACH!" Mario called out to her. He let go of the floor and dove to her, grabbing her chains and holding onto the edge of the floor's hole at the same time. The two of the clung out of the hole, with nothing but the sky below them.

"Don't let go!" Peach yelled to him. Before Mario could say anything, the metal he held onto ripped off, causing both of them to tumble away from the room and free fall through the clouds.

"Noo! Peach!" Bowser cried out. But the deed was done. Both Mario and Peach had fallen off Eggtopia. Who knows how long the drop they would take. Remembering Dr. Eggman's words, he told them they were kilometers high in the air. It would be a miracle if they both survived the fall.

At first Bowser saw the positive side of the situation. Mario was gone. That's what he wanted, right? But the way it happened, though. In reality, he did nothing at all in _his_ power to cause the demise of his rival. It didn't satisfy Bowser that Mario's fall wasn't exactly from his hands.

What made him feel worse was Peach had fallen with him. One of the few people he cared about was gone.

Suddenly, he felt himself sliding across the floor. Bowser panicked as he clawed the surface, trying to find something to grab on. It was hopeless. The air suction was getting stronger. Sooner or later Bowser would fall out of Eggtopia. To his death.

_Junior! _Bowser realized, remembering his son was in the room as well. He turned back to see him cling tightly onto the piece of metal that kept him from falling. But it wasn't enough. Junior felt his hands slipping as the air suction became stronger. He screamed as he let go and began to fall out of the room.

"AAAAAAAAHH!" Junior yelled. Bowser quickly acted by jumping over to save his son. He grabbed him by the tail with one hand, while holding onto the edge of the hole with another. Junior looked up to him, seeing him struggle to hold on. He shouted up to him. "DAD!"

"Junior. I want you to know that you've made me a proud father." Bowser shouted back down to him. He slowly began to raise his son up as he held back tears. "But now, it's _your_ turn to rise."

In a swift motion, Bowser threw his son back into the room, towards the doorway, just as he lost the strength to hold on. Junior slammed against the door, landing on his stomach. He could only watch as his father fell through the sky, disappearing into the clouds below.

"DAAAD! NOOO!" Junior cried, holding his hand out to him. But it was too late. The worst had happened. His father was gone, all because he sacrificed himself to save his son. Junior slammed on the ground, fighting back tears. He wanted to stay there and sulk forever. But he had to get out of there if he didn't want to get sucked out from the hole.

Junior exited the room and closed the doorway behind him. He sat against it and was now left alone in silence. Many emotions ran through his head. Sadness, anger, hopelessness. With his father gone, who else was there to guide him? He had no other option, not even the "ritual" was possible, as he needed Mario and Peach for it, and they were gone as well.

Junior continued to sit their, conflicted on what to do. He wanted to stay there and cry at his loss, but he knew his father wouldn't want that for his son.

.

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Action! Drama! Surprising things happen in this chapter You already know that because you just read it, and I'm just putting this here to fill up space! On a different note, I can't believe this story has reached a total of 90 chapters. That is a big accomplishment! And soon it will be 100, which I've already finished writing and all I have to do is post the chapters. Don't expect the suspense to die down anytime soon, it will only escalate from here on! **

**I appreciate your support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the respective property of Nintendo and Sega~**_


	91. The Fall!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 91: The Fall!**_

* * *

_**Eggtopia, Badnik Factory**_

It took them awhile to reach the other side of Eggtopia, but finally, they arrived at their destination. Knuckles, Rouge, Donkey Kong and Wario had reached the Badnik Factory where it was assumed the Master Emerald was being held. The heroes arrived at the front gates, expecting it to be calm, only to realize a big brawl was ensuing in the yard.

"This looks interesting." Knuckles said, clinging on the gates and peeking through it. He wondered what the badniks were fighting against. He gave a look of surprise as he realized who was in factory yard. "No way! The others are here as well?"

Defending themselves against the crowd of badniks were Luigi, Tails, Yoshi and Amy. They fought tirelessly as waves and waves of badniks were thrown at them. Luigi stomped on top of every badnik head, hopping around the place like a rabbit, while Amy swung her hammer wildly around her, threatening any badnik who tried to come close. Tails flew through the air, tackling down badniks into the ground. Yoshi used a combination of ground-pounds and headbutts, effectively smashing the badniks into pieces.

"How did they get here? How long have they been fighting?" Donkey Kong asked, continuing to watch the battle unfold. The others were as clueless as him. Taking action, Donkey Kong began climbing over the factory gates, jumping into the action. "Come on! Our friends need our help!"

"You heard him, boys. Let's kick some badnik butt!" Rouge said, flying over the fence to help the other heroes. Knuckles was stuck having to help Wario climb over, pushing him up from behind.

"SHOW US WHERE THE EMERALD IS, OR I'LL SMASH YOUR METAL HEADS INTO SMITHEREENS!" Wario shouted, charging into a group of badniks and taking them out. Knuckles joined him, throwing punches into any badnik that got in his way. Donkey Kong helped by grabbing badniks and throwing them into their comrades. Rouge threw swift kicks, knocking back the badniks with ease. It took the other heroes a moment to realize their back-up.

"Hey look! The others are here!" Luigi exclaimed as he stomped onto an Egg Fighter, smashing their head into the metallic ground.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" Donkey Kong exclaimed, smashing two badniks together right before they could sneak up on Yoshi. The two friends gave each other a thumbs-up before resuming into the battle.

"We need to get inside that factory!" Knuckles shouted to Tails, explaining that the Master Emerald was being held somewhere inside. Tails nodded and told him his group would distract the badniks while Knuckles' group would enter the factory. Knuckles whistled to his group, motioning them towards the factory doors. He, Rouge, Donkey Kong and Wario fought through the badnik army, with the help of Tails' group.

"Guess we should knock first?" Rouge told them as they reached the factory doors, which were locked at the time. Knuckles, Donkey Kong and Wario combined their strength and beat down the door, opening it. Suddenly, a group of Egg Gunners flew out of the factory and onto the battle field. They attacked the other heroes, who were caught off guard by the new enemies.

"Things just got a little more hectic." Donkey Kong gasped, watching as the Egg Gunners gunned through and shot explosive missiles in the battle. The other heroes had their work cut out for them, but now, Knuckles' group had to find the Master Emerald. Searching through the factory, they came across an open door, leading to a long flight of stairs heading towards the bottom of Eggtopia's undeground chambers.

They reached the bottom and went through a hallway leading to the generator room. No one was there to interfere. Knuckles opened the door, only to be surprised by the large whole left in the middle of the room.

"What the-where's the emerald?!" Knuckles gasped, entering the room and looking around frantically. He walked around carefully, not to go too close to prevent getting sucked out through from the wind. The others followed him closely behind. Knuckles' patience began to decrease. "Why isn't the emerald here? Every time we seem to be close to finding it, we never actually do!"

"Stay focused, something must have happened to it." Rouge told him, putting a hand to his shoulder. She looked over to the hole in the room, wondering what event had transpired previously for this to happen.

"SURPRISE!" a group of voices shouted behind them. Out of nowhere, the heroes were shot by an electrifying plasma bolt and stumbled towards the hole. Knuckles grabbed the edge of the hole in time. Rouge flung past him, but luckily Knuckles grabbed her hand, saving her. Unfortunately, Donkey Kong and Wario weren't so lucky, screaming as they fell out of the room.

"NOO!" Knuckles shouted to them, watching helplessly. Rouge covered her mouth in shock. The two turned over to the source of the shots, finding Orbot and Cubot standing above them, each holding plasma guns in their hands.

"We couldn't let the badniks have all the action, can we?" Orbot taunted, pointing his plasma gun down at them. "See these remarkable weapons? The Egg Pawns were generous enough to let us borrow them."

"Yeah! And we're going to use them to finish you off!" Cubot exclaimed, spinning in place before aiming his plasma gun at the heroes.

"I'm going to throw you at them." Knuckles whispered down to Rouge. She nodded. Just as the robots were about to shoot, Knuckles lifted Rouge and chucked her at them with an almighty throw. She spun through the air and kicked the plasma guns out of the robot's hands, before grabbing each of them by the neck.

"Gotcha!" Rouge taunted. She held onto them tightly as the they struggled. Knuckles took the time to climb back into the room. He motioned Rouge to throw Orbot to him. Knuckles slammed the robot on the ground once, before interrogating him.

"What happened to the Master Emerald?" Knuckles asked in a demanding tone. At first, Orbot refused to speak. To persuade him, Knuckles slammed him down once more onto the floor, before he dangled him over the hole.

"Okay! I'll tell you! Please do not drop me! I'm fragile!" Orbot begged. Knuckles threw him onto the metal floor and gave him an intimidating look. "The Master Emerald isn't here anymore! Someone must have broken the generator it was in, leaving the very hole you see in this room."

"So you're saying the Master Emerald fell out?" Knuckles asked, receiving a nod from Orbot. He tightened his fists in frustration. Now what was he going to do? The emerald was out of reach once again and it would take him forever to track it down back on the planet. He was about to throw a tantrum when the whole room began to shake and tilt. The four of them quickly ran out of the generator room, closing the door shut.

"Oh no, it is happening now!" Orbot spoke in a worried voice. Rouge asked him what was going on. "You see, the Master Emerald was Eggtopia's only power source, which powered the whole fortress and gave it it's ability to float. With it's absence, Eggtopia is doomed to fall and bring down anything and anyone along with it."

Knuckles and Rouge looked each other with horrified looks. Eggtopia doomed to fall out of the sky? A giant, metal fortress crashing down on the planet would definitely not yield pleasant results. Their lives were in danger, along with the innocent people stuck in the city.

"We need to get every off this falling death trap!" Knuckles demanded.

"What about the badniks? It'll be impossible to rally everyone while those things are in the way." Rouge reminded him. Turning towards Orbot and Cubot, she pleaded with them. "You need to shut those badniks down. Isn't there some sort of fail safe feature programmed in them? Something that could deactivate all of them?"

"Maybe...how would you know?" Cubot eyed her suspiciously. She explained she worked for G.U.N. In the past, and in the event that their robots did not comply to their orders, they had a fail safe system that allowed them to deactivate for an indefinite amount of time. Cubot crossed his arms. "So? What makes you think we'll help you? Your the good guys while we're the bad guys! Helping each other is against the status quo!"

"Think about all the innocent people in this fortress! What makes you think they deserve to die? I thought you two only intended to enslave them, not kill them!" Knuckles tried to convince them. The two robots pondered at his words. They agreed.

"I hate to admit, but you do have a reasonable point." Orbot responded. He and Cubot agreed to help them, but only for this situation. The four of them headed back upstairs into the city, returning to the battle between the heroes and badniks. Orbot pointed Knuckles towards a direction. "There is a drop ship station south of here. Rally up the civilians and load as many of them as you can into the ships. Cubot and I will deactivate the badniks while you do so."

"Got it." Knuckles said, before splitting paths with the robots. If he was being honest, it felt weird working with them. But lives were at stake. They had to throw away their differences for the time being to prevent this impending disaster.

Knuckles and Rouge joined the other heroes fighting against the badniks. As they fought, they could feel the entire ground shake underneath them. The whole city began to tilt towards one direction, causing everyone to fall back momentarily. The heroes wondered how they could fend off the badniks at a quicker pace while waiting for Orbot and Cubot to deactivate the badniks. They had to save the innocent as soon as possible, and they couldn't do it while the badniks were in the way.

"There is so many of them!" Yoshi cried out, beginning to feel overwhelmed. All of a sudden, an Egg Gunner knocked him onto the ground and prepared to shoot him. It seemed like he was finished, until the robot was destroyed as somebody slashed through it's body. Yoshi looked up to his savior, who offered a helping hand.

"Need a hand?" Sonic said as he helped Yoshi up. He, along with the others, were ecstatic to see him. At the same time, someone else began slashing through the badnik army, ripping a majority of them to bits. Shadow landed beside Sonic, clapping dust from his hands like it was nothing. Sonic rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, way to make an entrance."

"Hmph! That was nothing." Shadow responded. Turning towards an Egg Fighter, he aimed his hand at it, preparing to shoot a powerful Chaos Spear at it. To his surprise, the Egg Fighter collapsed on the ground as it's whole body shut down. In a matter of moments, the rest of the badniks around the heroes shut down and collapsed. Shadow looked around him in surprise, then grasped his hand. "Did I...just do that?"

"No, you didn't." Knuckles said. As the heroes climbed over the fallen badniks around them and grouped together, Knuckles explained their situation on how Eggtopia is doomed to crash and how they need to board civilians onto drop ships and carry them to safety. He also explained how Orbot and Cubot aided them by disabling the badniks.

"So I didn't stop the badniks myself. Damn it." Shadow grunted in disappointment.

"We've got to work together on this one. People _will_ die if we don't do anything." Tails told the heroes around him. He looked around, noticing that some of them were missing. "Hey, what happened to the others? We're not all here."

"...Donkey Kong and Wario fell." Rouge spoke sadly, explaining what happened in the generator room. The others were surprised by the news. Luigi asked about Mario and Peach, as they were in the room before them. Rouge gave a confused look. "We never saw them there."

"Oh no..." Luigi moaned, taking a step back, slowly realizing what happened to his brother. The heroes could see he was visibly disturbed. Yoshi lowered his head in despair. He wondered if Mario and Peach would survive the fall, even if the chances were slim.

"I'm sorry for your loss, but right now, we need to focus on saving the people here." Sonic reminded him. He soon remembered about Blaze, Silver and Cream. They had previously fled somewhere in the city as Sonic fought against the brainwashed Shadow. "Oh no, we've got to find them!"

"Don't worry, Rouge and I will search for them. You guys take care of the civilians." Tails told them. Just then, the ground rumbled underneath them as the city began to tilt once again, this time at a much more dangerous angle. Tails and Rouge began to fly away to search for their friends. "We need to hurry!"

The rest of the heroes rushed off into the city, gathering around citizens across the streets and leading them to the direction of the drop ship station.

"Please! We need to get out of here as quickly as possible!" Amy spoke calmly to a young Mazuri lady, who appeared to be frightened to move as everyone else rushed to safety. Amy grabbed her hand and gave her an assuring look. "Don't worry, everything will be okay."

"Move this way! Don't stop! This whole place could crash at any minute!" Knuckles shouted as he motioned people through the streets. Fortunately, all the civilians complied to the heroes' orders. Suddenly, the ground under them shook once again as Eggtopia began to descend though the clouds. Civilians screamed in horror.

"Keep going!" Sonic demanded. He was at the front of the pack of civilians, leading them all through the streets of Eggtopia towards the drop ship station. They passed through the open area outside the base of Egg Towers. The rings from when Mario and Sonic escaped were still scattered across the ground. Sonic looked up to the tower's head, wondering what Eggman was doing at the time.

_Your army has fallen. Your city has fallen. Looks like your utopian dream has come to an end. _Sonic thought to himself. He pressed on forward as everyone continued to follow him. They trusted Sonic and put their fate in the hedgehog's hands.

"Hey, Sonic!" a voice called behind him. Looking back, he saw Blaze, Silver and Cream following him along with the civilians. Sonic smiled, relieved that Tails and Rouge found the trio. Silver nodded to him. "You're our leader now. So take us to home!"

Everyone continued their trek through the streets, finally reaching the drop ship station. The bodies of deactivated Egg Pawns were scattered around everywhere. The heroes entered the station, seeing that there were four Drop Ships available.

"Is that going to be enough?" Luigi asked. None of them were sure. They just had to hope it was. The heroes decided to split into groups, each one responsible for filling their drop ships and flying them out. Sonic, Tails and Amy were one group, while Knuckles, Shadow and Rouge were another. Blaze, Silver and Cream were in charge of their own, leaving Luigi and Yoshi to take the last drop ship.

"Okay everyone! We need to do this in an orderly and efficient way." Luigi shouted over the large group of civilians waiting outside the station. Suddenly, the whole city shook as it quickened it's descent. Civilians panicked and rushed into the station in a stampede, accidently running over Luigi.

"I've got you." Tails said, flying down through the pack of civilians and picking Luigi up. He groaned in pain as he rubbed his back, which was covered in shoe prints. Tails dusted him off. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll thank you for helping them."

"They'd better..." Luigi moaned. The duo watched as they floated above the citizens piling into the drops ships. At the same time, the heroes split into their groups and joined the citizens onto the ships, preparing them for launch.

"I think that's everyone!" Sonic shouted, looking around the station to see if anyone was left behind. He jumped into his drop ship and gave the signal to starting flying out of the station. Luigi and Yoshi's drop ship was the first to take off. It flew out of the station's hangers, almost hitting the roof due to the whole fortress continuing it's fall. The other drop ships followed closely behind them into the dark and ominous sky.

"We barely made it out of there." Amy said, watching as Eggtopia continued it's descent from the ship's cockpit windows. The large fortress quickly disappeared out of sight as it was swallowed into the clouds underneath it. Amy simply stood there in a disbelief. The thought of knowing if they were on Eggtopia any longer, they would have crashed with it. They were lucky to have survived.

Sonic saw how distressed she looked and went up to her side, attempting to comfort her.

"Don't worry. That's all behind us now. We're safe."

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

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**A/N: More action and shocking twists to surprise you! This is THE penultimate chapter of the Sonic World Saga for this story, meaning we have one more chapter to go! But wait, we would still have 8 more chapters after the next one. What story arc could we see? You'll have to find out next update!**

**Oh yes, I've update my profile, including new information regarding my upcoming stories, so go check those out if you are interested.**

**Thank you for all the support! I appreciate it! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

**_~jjckmonkeybreath would like to say that I do not own any Mario or Sonic related materials. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~_**


	92. Doomsday!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 92: Doomsday!**_

* * *

_**Eggtopia, Egg Towers**_

The entire city was silent. Everybody had abandoned the doomed dystopia as it slowly fell out of the sky. Looking out from the destroyed windows of Egg Towers was Dr. Eggman. He simply stood there, watching his creation he worked on for so long crash and burn. He didn't feel sad. He didn't feel anger. Not even hopelessness. He was impassive at the moment. It wasn't like his plans never failed before. He was used to the cycle already.

"My plan has failed once again. What a pity." Eggman spoke with a calm tone. His almighty plan that he bragged about and was certain to work, failed instead. All he could do was move on.

"Doctor! We need to get out of here quickly!" Orbot called to him. He and Cubot waited for him in the open elevator. Eggman motioned them to move on ahead. Orbot argued with him. "Sir, this isn't the ideal place to sulk. The fortress is about to crash. We need to escape!"

"Give me a moment, you two. I will meet you at the evacuation point. You know where it is, right?" Eggman ordered them. The two robots nodded, and reluctantly left their master as they escaped. Eggman turned towards the glass case behind his desk. Still sitting inside it, were the Chaos Emeralds and the Jewelled Sceptor.

"My city may have fallen, but I still possess the most powerful artifacts in my hands. With these, I'll use them to bring chaos against Sonic and his friends and finish them off once and for all." Eggman said as an evil grin widened around his face. Plans of his may fail, but he could always conjure up new ones in a snap. As long as he had the will to stop Sonic, nothing could get in his way.

"You're wrong, doctor." a voice spoke. Turning to his desk, he saw a pair of red eyes glow ominously in the dark room. Walking out of the shadows, was Metal Sonic. His appearance surprised Eggman. The last time he had seen the robot was when Bowser crushed him to death back at his headquarters. He'd taken his body to repairs, but never checked up on his status afterwards as he was busy with his Eggtopia plans.

"It's a _pleasure _to see you are doing fine." Eggman responded with sarcasm. He didn't care about the robot's well-being over the extent that he'd help carry out the doctor's plans. After his numerous acts of betrayal, Eggman felt their relationship as robot-to-master was strained. "Now, if you'd be so kind as to assist me out of the premises, that would be the most help you would have done for me in awhile."

"With respect doctor, I will not." Metal Sonic said, his tone sounding hostile. His eyes glowed brighter as he approached Eggman, who started to back away in fear.

"What in the world are you doing? I helped fix you! This is how you are going to repay me?" Eggman stated, cowering behind his chair.

"You did nothing at all! All you did was leave me in your laboratory as you played around in this worthless trash you call a city." Metal Sonic declared, motioning his hands to the buildings outside. "Did you really think this is how you are going to obtain power? Create a lie from your idealistic views and build them in reality?!"

Metal Sonic walked over to the glass case and picked up the Jewelled Sceptor on top, pointing it towards Eggman and activating it's powers.

"You do not know true darkness. Once I have gained access to the Negative Dimension, _I _will become not only this world's ruler, but all worlds that exist!" Metal Sonic announced, before blasting a spell of dark energy at Eggman, knocking him down to the floor, making him unconscious. Metal Sonic stared at his body for a few moments, before breaking the glass case and taking the Chaos Emeralds, encasing them in a floating bubble of energy.

"The time has come. I must find the Star Children and begin the ritual."

Metal Sonic flew out of the tower, carrying the artifacts with him and left Eggman's unconscious body to fall with the rest of Eggtopia.

* * *

"Careful! Make sure you go slow with the landing! I don't want this thing to crash!" Knuckles said, urging Rouge to land their drop ship carefully on the grassy open fields below. Rouge was annoyed by his urgency, telling him why didn't he fly the drop ship instead. Knuckles shook his head. "No way, I'm no pilot! You have no _idea _how many things I've crashed recently!"

"With those big mittens of yours, I can easily tell. Why do you even insist on wearing those putrid things?" Shadow spoke, leaning over to the side as he looked out the cockpit's windows. Knuckles growled at him, insisting him to shut up. Shadow simply ignored him as their drop ship landed on the ground below.

"Oh, am I relieved to finally be on the ground!" Blaze exclaimed, running out of the drop ship she was on and falling to her knees, feeling the grass between her fingers. Cream walked down to her and hugged her, just as happy to be safe back on the planet.

"Hey, what is that noise I hear?" Cream asked, putting her ears against Blazes stomach. She felt it vibrate softly as a "purring" noise was heard. Cream raised an eyebrow. "Are you...purring?"

"Hahah! I've never heard Blaze purr in a long time!" Silver laughed, Blaze scratched the back of her head and blushed, embarrassed to have let her happiness go out of control to the point where she began to purr.

"Okay everyone, we've made it!" Sonic announced, motioning the civilians they saved from Eggtopia to climb out of the drop ship. All of the drop ships soon poured out with people and filled the empty grass field. They were all relieved to have escaped the nightmarish Eggtopia. They all looked out to the morning sky, which was clear blue and had no signs of clouds anywhere. They began to wonder what happened to Eggtopia. Was it gone for good? Where did it crash?

"Everybody, listen to me. We want everyone to group together according to what country Eggman stole you from so we can return you home safely." Tails announced to them. He began pointing them to groups. "Mazuri people, over there. Chun-nans, line up over here. Spagonia, you guys can relax there for now."

"Sonic, we need to discuss a few things." Amy said to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the other heroes, who were grouped in a circle away from the civilians as Tails grouped them. Sonic saw how they all looked uneasy and asked them what was wrong. Amy began to explain. "It's about Luigi and Yoshi. Their ship hasn't landed yet."

"Huh? What are you talking about? They were following right behind our ships all along, weren't they? They _should_ be here by now." Sonic asked. Shadow shook his head and pointed out into the sky. There was nothing out there for miles. Sonic scratched his head in confusion. Where could they have gone?

"Speaking of Luigi and Yoshi, what about the others?" Silver asked. Knuckles reminded them that Donkey Kong and Wario were knocked out of the generator room, as he and Rouge saw it themselves. None of them had no idea what happened to Mario and Peach. They could only assume they fell out of Eggtopia as well, since their last known place was in the badnik factory.

"This can't be happening. We're beginning to lose our friends!" Cream cried out, as she began to weep. Blaze tried to comfort the her, and assured they would be safe.

Sonic walked out towards the open field by himself, leaving the rest of the heroes in silence to wonder about the fate of their friends. He looked up to the sky and sighed. He thought this would be a victory to them, but now it seemed like a loss. The baddies were taken down, but at the supposed expense of their friends. Sonic kicked the ground softly and spoke.

"Where are you guys?"

* * *

**_Marble Zone Ruins_**

Slowly opening his eyes, he looked around him. Around him were the destroyed ruins of what appeared to be a temple, with broken pillars scattered across the ground and parts of walls still standing up. A forest surrounded the open area, with dark mountains looming further into the distance. The sky above was misty and cloudy with a dark, blue colour to it's appearance.

"Where...am I?" Mario spoke, rubbing his head. The last thing he remembered before going unconscious was he was tumbling through the sky after falling out of Eggtopia. Inspecting around him, he found the unconscious bodies of his friends lying around him. Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and Wario were with him. Surprisingly lying right next to him was the body of Bowser. He noticed they were formed around in a circle formation.

_What's going on? _Mario thought. He sat up and looked around carefully, noticing all seven of the Chaos Emeralds were in front of them, also formed in a smaller circle. Right in the middle, was the Master Emerald. Memories soon began to rush back to Mario's mind as he familiarized with the sight. _No, this can't be happening again! _

Before he could move, he felt a shock emit from his back and took out his entire body. He fell forward onto his stomach. The shock immobilized him as he couldn't move. Looking up, he was shocked to find the foot of Metal Sonic in front of him. The robot laughed at him.

"Face it, you cannot win this time." Metal Sonic told him, pointing the Jewelled Sceptor at his face. Mario could only watch helplessly as Metal Sonic walked over to the emeralds in the centre. Before he could cast the spell to activate the portal, he was suddenly engulfed by flames from behind. Metal Sonic flew into the air and extinguished the fire with a spell, before turning to the source of the fire.

"What crazy plan are you trying to do right now?" Bowser spoke, slowly getting up. He also had fallen from Eggtopia, and was surprised from the change of setting after blacking out in the air. Bowser growled at the robot, and prepared to attack, only for Metal Sonic to shoot the same spell at him, paralyzing him on the ground. Bowser roared in pain, before deciding to simply lie there. He turned to Mario and both stared at each other. Bowser spoke to him. "What's...happening?"

"Hmm...that's right, you weren't there when you _son _initiated the ritual back in your world." Metal Sonic spoke, which only confused Bowser more. What ritual was he referring to? Speaking about his son, where was Junior? He barked at Metal Sonic, demanding answers, only to be ignored as the robot cast a spell.

Suddenly, purple stone manuscripts appeared in a circle around him. Each had writing engraved onto them. Metal Sonic read them aloud to his immobilized captives.

___The key that opens the doorway to the world of darkness and despair lies within the seven sacred emeralds, whose powers can only be unlocked through the sacred children of the stars._

"As you can see, I am planning to open a portal to a dimension filled with limitless amount of negative energy. The only way I can do so is with the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds." Metal Sonic explained. Mario and Bowser eyed over to the Chaos Emeralds lying around on the ground.

___A world, ruled over by mushrooms, contains the knowledge of the sacred star children._

"The world referred to this tablet speaks about your world, and how all seven of you are the legendary star children. With the help of your powers, I can open the Negative Dimension." Metal Sonic said. Bowser gave a surprised look. He was a star child all along? He remembered the journey he went on, going into the past and hoping to find the star children and harness their powers for his own use. He didn't expect him, along with the others, to be the star children.

___Offering a grand treasure to the ruler of the dark world ensures control of the power within._

"The only grand treasure I know of existence is the Master Emerald. Surely, whoever controls the energy within the dimension will accept my offering and lend me the dark power they possess." Metal Sonic said. Bowser growled at the robot, while Mario continued to lie there in silence.

"So it looks like you've got everything you need for this stupid ritual of yours! What's stopping you from doing it now? You afraid it won't work?" Bowser roared at him. Metal Sonic stood there for a moment, thinking over his words. He turned over to another manuscript and read it.

___Once positive and negative balance, the world equals the energy within itself and must dissipate to prevent massive obliteration to all worlds._

"I am unsure what this manuscript means. Care to enlighten me on your thoughts?" Metal Sonic asked.

"I think your nuts! Massive obliteration to all worlds? Even I'm not crazy to take that kind of risk!" Bowser roared. He tried to move his body, but the immobilization spell still overtook him. Mario thought the same. All Metal Sonic wanted was to harness the dark energy, but at the risk of destroying all the worlds? This was madness!

"It is not like your opinions will influence me. I _will _go through with this plan, whether you like it or not!" Metal Sonic said. He turned his back away from them and pointed the Jewelled Sceptor up to the sky, casting a light into the air. He began to chant the ritual's spell.

"___A world where darkness lies in every corner. A world where only vicious beings and evil forces exist. Lead us into a world cloaked in destruction and despair. Open up the door to the Negative Dimension"_

At first there was silence. Mario and Bowser looked at each other, relieved that nothing happened, only for a loud explosion to emit from the sky above them. Looking up, they were surprised to see a large, white portal of energy swirling around in the sky. It didn't appear to be something that led to a world full of darkness.

"Now, it's your turn." Metal Sonic spoke, turning to the unconscious heroes. He raised the Jewelled Sceptor. At the same time, the heroes bodies began to float in the air. Mario and Bowser were the only ones to shout in horror. The Chaos Emeralds began to float next to the heroes and began to glow. Suddenly, the dark energy was sucked out of the emeralds and sucked into the portal, leaving them a dull, grey colour. The heroes bodies began to glow a white aura around them and a bright ball of light popped out of their bodies. Metal Sonic was struck with awe at the sight.

"There it is, the power of the star children. The immense amount of energy needed to stabilize and keep the portals open to all worlds. " Metal Sonic said. The star power flew into the portal and a big flash emitted from it. The portals appearance changed colour from the bright, white energy to a dark, purple void. Metal Sonic stared at the portal.

He finally did it. After all his efforts, he finally opened a portal to the Negative Dimension!

"I don't need you anymore." Metal Sonic said, turning back to Mario and Bowser. He began to laugh maniacally at his achievement. All that was left to do was harness the energy from this world. Taking the Master Emerald with him, he flew into the portal, creating a flash of dark light as he entered.

"Now...what?" Bowser spoke to Mario. The two were still immobilized, while the other heroes were unconscious and didn't appear to wake up. The Chaos Emeralds, now drained of their powers, simply laid their in the centre.

"We need to stop Metal Sonic!" Mario responded. Bowser agreed. No way were they letting a crazy robot destroy all their worlds. But how? Metal Sonic was already in the dimension. It was a matter of time before he could harness the energy of the world.

Suddenly, the dark portal above them began to grow stronger. It emitted this loud, whirling noise. The force of it's suction reached them. First, it sucked the Chaos Emeralds, then it began to pull the heroes bodies into it.

"Get ready, we're in for the adventure of our lives!" Bowser shouted to Mario. Soon, they felt their bodies moving towards the portal. Mario and Bowser shouted as they, along with the other unconscious heroes, were sucked into the Negative Dimension. The portal continued to roar within the ruins, only to disappear soon afterwards.

This was only the beginning of a war for the sake of all worlds!

_._

_.._

_..._

_Next time...The Epic Finale!_

* * *

**A/N: Here we are folks! We've reached the end of the Sonic World Saga and now approach the last chapters of this story. As a sneak peek to the finale, I have revealed the titles to the remaining chapters on my profile, so check it out! This final arc I have planned will be different to what we've already seen previously in this story. Things _will _blow up at a spectacular level!**

**I appreciate everyone's support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	93. Aftermath!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

**-The Finale Saga-**

_**Chapter 93: Aftermath!**_

* * *

_**Two weeks later...**_

The world had calmed down after the incident of Eggtopia. Some had decided to leave the disastrous event in the past, while others couldn't shake it out of their heads. Every single person reacted in their own way: fear, anger, happiness. But one thing they could all agree on was how glad the whole event was over.

The Guardian Units of Nations, or G.U.N, scoured the entire planet, intending to find fallen fortress and clean up the mess it surely left. It took them a few hours and a group of helicopters to locate it. They were surprised to have found the fallen dystopia floating across the ocean as it calmly swayed against the waves.

A team of G.U.N. Soldiers went into the city to locate any living beings that may have been left behind. But all they found were the deactivated bodies of Dr. Eggman's badniks. Speaking of the doctor, there were no signs of him at all. This had been the last known sighting of him.

Where could he have gone?

* * *

_**Empire City Square**_

The streets of the city was busy with life, especially during rush hour. Vehicles packed the streets, while crowds of citizens rushed through the sidewalks heading off to their destinations. The city's square was especially active. In the midst of the crowd, was a certain team of detectives heading off to their current job.

"There are _so _many people here!" Charmy stated. He floated above the citizens passing by them, gazing across the sea of people around him. He gave a questionable look. "Where are all these people going anyway?"

"It's none of our business, kiddo. The only thing we have to worry about is the task at hand." Vector reminded him. It seemed out of the ordinary to see a large crocodile walking through a crowd of people. Vector felt a little awkward, but it would be worth it once they got paid. He looked around him. "Hey, where did Espio run off to?"

"I'm up here." Espio called down to them. He stood on top of the street lights, arms folded. He gazed around the city square, looking for their destination. He spotted a large burger joint up ahead. "I can see the restaurant a few blocks away from here."

"Ooh! I see it! Race you guys there!" Charmy exclaimed. He flew in a loop-de-loop, before flying towards the restaurant. Espio smirked and quickly followed behind him, jumping from pole to pole at a fast pace.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Vector called out to them. He began to push his way through the crowd, not even apologizing or excusing himself as he brushed by them. Many people gave him him dirty looks, while others swore at him. It took him a few minutes before he caught up with the other two, who casually waited outside the burger joint.

"Geez, I was about to fall asleep waiting for you. What took you so long?" Charmy asked, letting out a big yawn. He ended up getting grabbed by the wings by Vector, who gave him an annoyed look. "Gah! Okay, I'm sorry we left you! It was a stupid mistake!"

"What's wrong with you guys? I'm the leader of this group and you decide to leave me behind? How considerate!" Vector growled at him.

"Calm your chops, Vector. We've got bigger things to deal with." Espio told him. He pointed to the inside of the burger joint. Vector calmed down and let go of Charmy, who began to dust his wings off.

The trio entered the burger joint. The lights were shut off and it appeared to be abandoned, with no living soul in sight. The walls had cracks embedded in them, while chairs and tables were flipped over to the side. The front counter was destroyed, with parts of it scattered across the ground. The three investigated the area, wondering what occurred there. Earlier that day they received a call from the restaurant owner, calling about a mysterious beast lurking around the back alley. Team Chaotix decided to take care of it, as they were promised a year's supply of burgers from the joint.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" Charmy called out. No one answered. He gave a confused look. "So what gives? What happened to everyone?"

"They all must have booked it out of here." Espio suggested, as he placed a chair back onto it's legs. He walked up towards the counter and found large claw marks scratched on the top. "I sense that the beast scared them off. I see no signs of injury, so I can assume no one was hurt."

"The beast must be around here somewhere." Vector spoke. He motioned them to follow him to the back. The kitchen had been torn apart as well. The frying grills had huge bite marks on the side and were toppled over, while various condiments covered the floor and the walls. As they inspected the area, they heard terrified murmuring inside the kitchen's freezer. Vector opened it to find the restaurant's staff huddled inside. They all screamed in horror, only to be relieved it was only them.

"D-Did you get rid of it?" one of the chefs asked. Vector could only give a confused look. The chef pointed to the back of the kitchen. A part of the wall was broken down, leaving a big hole into the back alley. Team Chaotix decided to see what was lurking outside. They looked around the back alley before discovering the beast digging through a garbage dumpster.

It was nothing they had seen before. The beast was huge and stood on all fours. It had bulky legs with razor sharp claws sticking out each toe. It had a rough, purple scales like a reptile covering it's whole body. It had a large tail that swayed back and forth constantly, with black spikes sticking out from it's sides. It had a large jaw with huge, pointy teeth and a sturdy, singular black horn sticking from it's forehead. It's eyes were also pitch black in colour.

"What in the world _is _that thing?" Charmy whispered to the others. Vector and Espio could only watch in silence as the beast continued digging through the trash. Deciding to take the opportunity. Charmy sneaked up behind the beast and jabbed his stinger into it's back, causing it to give out a deafening roar of pain. The beast quickly slapped Charmy back with it's tail, before turning towards Vector and Espio.

"Uhm...Espio? Do something!" Vector shouted as the beast growled and began to charge at them. Vector started running in the opposite direction, while Espio took out a shuriken. He jumped into the air and threw it at the beast, only for it to swallow the weapon whole.

"No! My shuriken!" Espio shouted in distress. It looked like he would need to take a different course of action. Taking out a kunai, he charged towards the beast, who had Vector pinned against the corner of the alley. Vector held the beast back with his hands as it attempted to take a bite out of him. Espio jumped onto it's back and stabbed him. A black liquid began to ooze out from the spot. The beast yelped in pain and slowly lost consciousness. Vector threw it's body to the side as he panted in exhaustion.

"Is that one of those kunais that inject the sleep stuff?" Vector asked. Espio nodded to him, spinning the kunai in his hand before putting it back. Charmy joined the two and together they inspected the mysterious beast. What exactly was it? Where did it come from?

"We need to take this creep in somewhere before it wakes up." Charmy told them. Espio suggested turning it in to the government, but Vector was against the idea, knowing they wouldn't get any recognition for their efforts if they did.

"The government is corrupt!" Vector told them. He had a better idea. "I know _just_ the right people to ask."

* * *

_**Westside Island, Emerald Beach**_

It was calm within Emerald Town. The sun shined down upon the beach town. The only sound coming from the sandy beach were the ocean waves rocking against the land. At the moment, Sonic was alone, staring out into the ocean's horizon as the water swept by his shoes. He had an afflicted look on his face. The only thoughts to fill his mind were his lost friends.

After they rescued the civilians from Eggtopia, he and the other heroes searched around for Mario and his friends. The groups became separated in the heated battle through Eggtopia, and most of them had fallen off the fortress to who knows where. Sonic and the group travelled all around the planet, hoping to find the heroes stranded somewhere. But they had no luck. The group decided to call off the search momentarily to rest for awhile. It puzzled them that they could not find any single trace of the heroes.

Was it possible? Were Mario and the others gone? Were they...dead?

_No...you have to stop thinking like that. _Sonic thought to himself. He closed his eyes, trying to shake the thought of thinking his friends were gone forever. It wasn't fair how they disappeared all of a sudden, unable to bask in their victory they achieved along with Sonic and the others. Maybe it was for the best. Their heroic sacrifices saved thousands of lives.

"I still wish you guys were here with us." Sonic spoke. He kicked the sand beneath him and sighed. He had never felt this depressed ever since they had to leave Mario's world.

He began to walk back to Tails' house. Only Tails, Amy and Cream were there. Knuckles, Blaze and Silver had trekked on their own mission together to find the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald and the Jewelled Sceptor, which were still lost. Shadow and Rouge headed back to Neo Prison Island to report what happened in Eggtopia to G.U.N.

Sonic walked into Tails' house, which had been reconstructed and built as good as new after Metal Sonic and Junior destroyed it before. He walked upstairs to the living quarters, where Amy and Cream were sitting on the couch, watching television. Although, their attention wasn't focused on the screen. Cream had fallen asleep and was curled up on one side of the couch, while Amy sat on the other side, in deep thought.

"Where's Tails?" Sonic asked her, walking up to her side and looking up to the television screen, seeing it play a sci-fi movie. Amy answered him, saying Tails was downstairs in his lab, fixing up blueprints for a new machine. Sonic gave a small smirk. "Tinkering already? I guess that keeps him focused."

"Do you think we'll ever see them again?" Amy asked him, looking upas their eyes met. Sonic could see she had been crying about their lost friends. It had been two weeks of their absence. Amy wanted to believe they'd see them, but as time passed on, she began to doubt it. "I miss them so much."

"Yeah..." was all Sonic could say. He went back to the kitchen and grabbed a box of tissues from the counter, handing it to Amy. She thanked him and proceeded to wipe away the tears stained on her face.

"You know, I never really got the chance to say thanks to them for rescuing me." Amy began to recall. She remembered when Luigi and Yoshi helped her and Tails fight against the crowds of badniks in Eggtopia. Boy, did she have fun smashing them to pieces, especially with their company.

"I remember the plan Mario and I made when we surprised Eggman and Bowser up in the tower." Sonic said. He replayed the moment in his head, how they used the ring bombs explosion to escape the tower. He had never done anything _exactly _like that before. He soon recalled Mario's words back when they were captive in the drop ship headed for Eggtopia. Sonic had never liked their plan, but Mario assured him it would work. It did, and Sonic felt sorry for doubting his words. He gained much respect for Mario's smart thinking.

Sonic and Amy began to reminsce about their adventures they had with Mario and friends. The exciting battles they fought together, the enjoyable moments of peace they enjoyed together, the hardships of loss they withstood together. The group of friends may have been from separate worlds, but were very much the same.

If only they had realized the impending danger that was about to change their lives forever. Outside, a large, purple rift appeared in the sky as dark energy began to disperse from it.

This was the beginning of the end.

.

..

...

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter is posted a few hours late. I was busy and forgot to post it during regular update time. Anyway, here is the first chapter of the Finale saga! Things start out a little slow, to be honest. But the build up to the last chapters will be worth it. **

**I appreciate all your support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

**_~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related materials. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~_**


	94. The Beast Within!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 94: The Beast Within!**_

* * *

_**...**_

He slowly opened his eyes as the blurred vision overcame him. It took him a moment for it to clear. He sat up and shook his head, groaning in pain as his sides ached. He looked around him and was surprised by his surroundings. He found himself sitting near the edge of a rocky cliff, which was part of a big island made entirely out of gray stone. Purple glowing crystals covered parts of the island.

"Where am I exactly?" Mario spoke to himself as he gazed around him. He went up to the edge of the cliff and looked down, only to find nothing below it except a vacuum of space. It shocked Mario, causing him to step back and take a better look at his surroundings. He realized the island he stood on was floating within a large, purple universe with bright stars shining around him and large, purple planets a long distance away. There was a large, glowing purple nebula in the space above him. More islands similar to the one he was on floated by him.

"This place feels so...peaceful." Mario said in a soothing voice. He took a moment to stare out into the open world, awestruck by it's ominous beauty. It was nothing he'd seen in his life before. It took him a moment to realize he was in some sort of purple space. Space. A place where there was no oxygen.

"Mamamia!" Mario gasped, holding his neck as he tried to breath in air. Surprisingly, he wasn't having trouble breathing at all, consider he was in space! Mario was confused, but was simply thankful his head didn't explode from lack of oxygen.

He sat down on the edge of the rocky cliff, continuing to admire the view of the mysterious world. He wondered how he'd gotten there in the first place and began to recall what happened prior to him waking up. He remembered about the fight in Eggtopia and wondered about Sonic and his friends. Did they make it? He then remembered about the ritual that Metal Sonic initiated using them. That could only mean one thing.

"Wait...this can't be?" Mario said, panic slowly filling him. This dark and mysterious world was none other than the forsaken universe of darkness and despair he always heard about: the Negative Dimension!

"I need to find the others!" Mario told himself. They had also been sucked into the portal that Metal Sonic created in the ritual. He looked around him, wondering where he could go. He looked out to the other floating islands nearby him. They were too far away for him to jump to. But he was in some sort of space universe, right?

"I hope this works." Mario began to take a few steps back and focused on the closest floating island near him. Taking a running start, he took a mighty leap off the cliff and began to soar across space. He shouted in glee as he landed on the island. His theory was correct! The gravity in this world was weak enough for him to jump from island to island. He continued travelling across the dimension, searching for his friends. As he made a leap to another island, someone crashed into him, causing the two to spiral through space and crash onto a smaller floating island. Mario looked and was relieved to see who it was.

"Luigi! You're okay!" Mario exclaimed, hugging his younger brother, who was still dazed from the crash. Luigi smiled, happy to see him as well. Mario began to ask."Do you know where the others are?"

"I could only find one of them." Luigi said, pointing behind him. Flying to their island, was Yoshi. He was holding his hands out to the side, mimicking an airplane. He landed on the island on his stomach. Luigi helped him up before turning to his brother. "So bro, mind telling us what the heck is going on? Where are we? How did we get here? Where is everyone? How are we breathing in space?!"

Mario took the moment to explain what had happened, from their fall from Eggtopia, to Metal Sonic succeeding in the ritual that transported them to the Negative Dimension. Luigi and Yoshi took the moment to take in the information.

"Oh boy, we sure messed up." Yoshi said, shaking his head in shame. He turned to Luigi, who also had a guilty look on his face. They remembered their last moments of consciousness. They had been flying a drop ship full of citizens they saved from Eggtopia. As they followed Sonic and the others, something crashed into their ship, causing it to spiral in the air uncontrollably. They had no idea what happened to the ship, or the fate of the people on it.

"That must have been Metal Sonic who interfered with us." Luigi suggested. He assumed Sonic and the others were safe, but the people they carried on the ship? What happened to them? Did Metal Sonic spare them, or did he let them suffer?

"I know you two are thinking about those people, but we need to focus on the task at hand." Mario reminded them. Luigi and Yoshi nodded. They were in a dire situation. Their friends were stranded somewhere in the Negative Dimension, while Metal Sonic was most likely wandering around with the Master Emerald, looking for a way to harness the dark energy within the realm. It would be a matter of time before he could use it for his own use.

The trio continued exploring the Negative Dimension. They needed to find their friends if they wanted to stop Metal Sonic.

* * *

_**...**_

"Grr...my head." Bowser growled. He softly rubbed his forehead as he sat up. He took the moment to look around him. His mouth was wide open as he was shocked to realize where he was. He was on a large, stone island floating in the middle of a purple space universe! At first, he thought he was dreaming and tried to wake himself up by slapping his forehead. It didn't work, only causing the pain to grow.

"How did I get here?" Bowser wondered, looking around him. This was an unfamiliar setting. The last thing he remembered was with Mario and the others when Metal Sonic created a portal that sucked all of them in. Bowser growled angrily at the thought of Metal Sonic."That robot causes so much trouble. I'm gonna crush his head between my teeth the next time I see him."

He decided to explore this mysterious universe. Looking back, he saw a steep rock wall that led to the upper part of the floating island. Rubbing his hands together, he clung on the side of the rock wall and began climbing it. He may be a huge turtle, but no obstacles could stop him. It took him a few moments for him to reach the top. Looking around, he saw the top of the island was flat and led up to a much larger island in the distance. The was a pointy stone bluff in the center of the larger island. The two islands were connected together by a stone bridge.

"Guess there is no where else to go." Bowser thought. He slowly walked across the stone bridge, taking a glimpse at the world he was in. Bright stars, planets, a huge nebula floating above. This was definitely some sort of space world. Bowser recalled to the moment Metal Sonic explained his plan to him, how he would venture into the Negative Dimension and harness all the dark energy for himself.

"The Negative Dimension? Is that _really _the best name they could come up with this place?" Bowser spoke to himself, scratching his chin. He passed by a few purple crystals sticking out of the stone ground. It sparkled and glowed in repetition. Bowser ran his claw across the jewels. Was this where the dark energy was stored in? Bowser pondered at the thought of breaking it and seeing if he could absorb some of the dark energy.

"Hmph! I'm a powerful king already! I don't need that stuff." Bowser boasted, changing into a dignified position as he made it across the stone bridge. Reaching the larger island, all he noticed was how bare it was, with nothing but the tall stone bluff in the center and the dark crystals scattered around the ground.

That wasn't until he focused what was at the bottom of the bluff.

"Princess...?" Bowser spoke. He noticed the body of Peach simply laying there. Bowser ran up to her body and checked for any bruises, fortunate that there were none. She appeared to be unconscious, so Bowser gently shook her. She slowly opened her hers and moaned. Bowser gave a relieved sigh to hear her voice, which assured him she was okay. All that time he was worried something horrible had happened to her. She was an important aspect in his life. Other than his son, her well-being was the only one he had deep concern of.

Speaking about Junior, he wondered what happened to him. The last time Bowser saw him was right before he fell off Eggtopia after he saved him. As a father, he could only hope his son was safe and glad he wasn't in this terrible mess.

"So how are you holding up?" Bowser asked. Peach rose her head to him and gave a shocked look, shaking herself out of his hands. Her first thought was how she'd gotten kidnapped by Bowser yet again. Looking around her, she noticed the mysterious world they were in.

"Where have you taken me? You won't get away with this!" Peach told him, taking a step back from him. Bowser took this as an offence and growled angrily.

"What? You think I kidnapped you again? Thanks for assuming, princess!" Bowser growled at her. He turned his back towards her and crossed his arms. He tried to do the right thing, only to get criticized. I guess he should have expected it, considering he was the evil stereotype. Peach was surprised by his attitude and tried to reason with him.

"Did I offend you? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed." Peach apologized to him. At first, Bowser tried to stay angry. But how could he when she was being so polite to him? He tried not to give in to the apology, but Bowser had a soft spot for her, so he forgave her.

"I guess you want the full story." Bowser said, and begun explaining what had happened while she was unconscious.

"So all of this is Metal Sonic's doing? What a monster." Peach stated, receiving a nod from Bowser. She began to worry about Mario and the others. She still couldn't grasp the concept of them being inside the Negative Dimension. This whole journey she only heard bits of information of this world, but to actually be inside it? It felt like a nightmare had become reality. "We must find the others and put a stop to the robot's plans."

Bowser agreed. Normally, he would _never_ agree to aid the heroes, but under certain circumstance like this, he had no choice. Another evil guy attempting to dominate world and put himself on top? Bowser wouldn't accept that. To him, _he _was the only villain worthy of reigning supreme power. No other bad guy could contest against him!

Plus, he would do anything for Peach. Except when she'd politely asked to be returned to her castle. Didn't she learn the point of _kidnapping _by then?

As the two were about to explore the Negative Dimension, a loud roar emitted from behind them. They turned around and realized a large pair of dark, purple wings sprouting from behind the stone bluff. The bluff began to rumble as an enormous dragon climbed on top of it and gave out an ear-piercing roar, causing even the stars to shake. The dragon was covered in dark purple scales, while it's belly was coloured black, along with its sharp claws, its two horns protruding from the top of its head and its eyes. It had a long neck, long tail and a bulky body.

The dragon stared intensely down at Bowser and Peach, who were frozen in place. It began to speak in a deep, demonic voice.

"Who dares to enter _my _territory?"

"I-I am Bowser, king of the Koopas. The woman you see beside me is Princess Peach." Bowser introduced them. He was a little overwhelmed by the sudden appearance. The dragon gave out a slow laugh and grinned, showing it's many rows of sharp teeth.

"You? A king? I doubt that. You appear too puny to control an army of your own." the dragon taunted, taking at stab at Bowser. He wasn't pleased with the comment, and it actually upset him.

"Aren't you the one to talk? How about you? Where is _your _army?" Bowser growled back. He wished he didn't spoken it after, as the dragon snapped its fingers. Suddenly, a whole army of dark beasts akin to the dragon appeared behind Bowser and Peach. They all stood on their fours, had large jaws, a singular horn poking from their foreheads, claws and tails with spikes sticking from the end.

"Why must you open your mouth like that?" Peach complained to Bowser. They both knew they were in huge trouble.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the dragon spoke. He rose his whole body up and straightened it, spreading his wings to the side to exaggerate his gigantic size. "I am the one called Malevo, the ruler of the Negative Dimension. I control the dark energy amassed within this world. The beasts you see in front of you are my Destroyers. I wouldn't get on their bad side if I were you."

A group of Destroyers barked at Bowser and Peach, slowly approaching them intimidatingly.

"Hey! What's the deal? We did nothing wrong to you! Control your pets!" Bowser roared. Peach was hiding behind him and was afraid of being attacked. Malevo snapped his fingers and the Destroyers retreated on command. Bowser turned to him and began to explain. "Look, we mean no harm to you. If you think we're here to take away your power, you thought wrong. We were transported here against our will."

"I find it amusing you bring that up." Malevo hissed. He looked to his fist, which held something. Nonchalantly, he threw the objects at their feet. Scattered across the ground were the limbs and pieces of Metal Sonic. His decapitated head rolled across the ground, stopping along Bowser's foot. "Is this a friend of yours?"

"Oh my..." Peach gasped. Bowser simply kicked the robot's head away from, thinking he got what he deserved.

"He dared to come to me and ask for _my _powers. What a fool! He even negotiated with these toys of his." Malevo snapped his fingers once again and the Master Emerald and Jeweled Sceptor appeared out of thin air in front of them. "I have no use for those. I have _all _the power I need. What made him assume he was worthy to handle such ancient powers? _I _am the only one who can control it. _I _am the dark energy of this world!"

"That's fine with me. But if you can excuse us, we'd like to leave right now." Bowser told him. He decided to take the Master Emerald and Jeweled Sceptor with them. It looked like Metal Sonic as a problem was done for good. Now they could go home and maybe leave this mess behind.

"I suggest you run along. Enjoy what precious time you have with your loved ones before I _obliterate _your worlds!" Malevo called down to them. Bowser stopped in his tracks and turned back. What in the world was he talking about? Malevo gave an evil grin. "Don't you have any clue what my purpose is in this world? I am the figure, the embodiment of all dark and evil thoughts that exist from all other worlds. People like _you _helped create me! My sole existence is to hold these dark thoughts somewhere so other worlds don't go crazy. But now that the robot has created a connection to both your worlds, I can allow the dark energy to spread and allow others to suffer the darkness they've created and _open_ their eyes to this madness!"

"You're crazy! Worlds have a greater use than to be subjected into a lifetime of darkness! Life _can _be good! You need to broaden your perspectives!" Peach argued back. Malevo didn't care about her opinion. As a being created by the evil thoughts of others, he was blinded into destroying their worlds.

"None of you know true despair! I _will_ show you the wrath of your malicious acts! This will be the beginning of a dark era!" Malevo announced. Bowser and Peach needed to act. This beast was determined to consume their worlds in darkness. But they couldn't do it alone.

"We _need _to find Mario and the others. Now!" Bowser told Peach. Before he could do anything, Malevo shot a dark ball of energy, hitting him and electrifying his body. Bowser screamed in pain and collapsed, dropping the Master Emerald and Jeweled Sceptor onto the ground. Peach cried to him and went up to his body.

"I offered you to leave, but now you want to fight against me? How foolish are the other worlds? Accept your dark fate!" Malevo roared. The Destroyers began to huddled around the two heroes. Peach shook Bowser, but he was unconscious. Panicking, she picked up the Jeweled Sceptor and pointed it up. She had never done this before, and only saw Junior do this. But it was their last hope.

"Please...please bring us home..." Peach pleaded to herself. Suddenly, a beam of light shot from the Jeweled Sceptor. It created a white, swirling portal above them and sucked her in, along with Bowser and the Master Emerald. The portal disappeared soon afterwards. The Destroyers began to bark in anger, while Malevo simply gave an evil grin.

"It will only be a matter of time before you meet your demise!"

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: We meet the main antagonist of this saga. This is the "evil force, greater than Eggman and Bowser's powers combined" talked about in the story's summery. Inspiration for Malevo came from the final bosses from a majority of the 3D Sonic games, in which Sonic usually battles against this giant, ancient entity in super form. I tried to make him threatening as possible through his dialogue. I'd like to know what you think of him. ****In terms of the Negative Dimension, I had many ideas in my head on what it would look like. I decided to go with a purple space theme because it would give this mysterious atmosphere to it. Plus, it would stand out from the other settings in this story. **

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for all your support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related materials. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	95. Darkness!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 95: Darkness!**_

* * *

_**...**_

He shot up from the ground, awakened by the horrified screaming. Looking around him, he realized he was inside a dark, stone cavern. Donkey Kong was confused. How did he get here? What happened? His thoughts were interrupted by another scream, only this time it was louder. Donkey Kong squinted into the darkness. Out of nowhere, Wario appeared and crashed into him, causing them both to collapse.

"GAH! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Wario yelled in panic, his face showing terror. He didn't bother to look at Donkey Kong as he pushed him to the side and continued running in fear. Why was he in a rush? Donkey Kong looked up and immediately knew why.

Chasing after him were these dark, purple beasts with wings. They had bulky, humanoid bodies, and a single black horn poking from their foreheads, along with black claws and eyes. They gave a loud, threatening hiss as their forked tongues wiggled out.

"What do those guys want?" Donkey Kong yelped, before he began to run away as well. The cavern was dark and nearly impossible to see what was ahead of him, so he constantly tripped over pebbles and slammed into walls. After taking a few turns, he finally saw a light ahead and charged after it, reaching the outside of a barren wasteland within a purple space universe. He saw Wario a few feet ahead, running for his life. Donkey Kong turned back and saw the flying monsters still chased after them. He shouted out to Wario. "Keep running!"

"WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M DOING?!" Wario shouted back in sarcasm, turning around to realize Donkey Kong was running along with him. The two soon reached the cliff of the wasteland, greeted by the view of numerous floating islands within this space world. Wario began to panic. "WHAT DO WE DO?!"

"Uhm...we're in space, right? That could mean there is no gravity!" Donkey Kong suggested. He suddenly picked up Wario and slung him behind his back and took a leap of faith towards another island. His theory was right, as the weak gravity allowed him to soar across to the floating island. The winged monsters hissed as they retreated to their caverns. Donkey Kong and Wario landed on the island, stumbling across the ground.

"You okay?" Donkey Kong asked, dusting dirt off his fur. Wario rolled onto his back and ripped wind out of relief, causing the ape to shake his head in disgust. He helped him up. "So do you have any clue where we are?"

"Beats me. I'm as clueless as you are." Wario answered. The two took a moment to take in their surroundings. This mysterious world they were in had this dark atmosphere to it, but at the same time the environment was majestic in it's own right. As the two continued to gaze around, Donkey Kong caught something in the corner of his eye. Soaring towards a large island with a bluff in it's center, was Mario, Luigi and Yoshi.

"Hey! Look! It's the others!" Donkey Kong exclaimed, pointing to them. He took a leap towards them. Wario followed closely behind, thrilled with the sensation of flying through low-gravity. It took them a moment to catch up with the others, who were hiding behind a boulder on the large, bluff island. They were quietly listening as a giant dragon perched on top of the bluff was speaking to his army of Destroyers, which happened to be thousands of them. There was a mix of the ground and flying species that Donkey Kong and Wario had encountered earlier.

"What's going on?" Donkey Kong whispered to them as they joined the trio. Luigi shushed him as they tried to listen to what the dragon was saying.

"It's been almost centuries since we've become trapped in this dimension," Malevo began to speak amongst his Destroyers. "For all these years, the power of the darkness has gradually grown from the evil actions committed by the _other_ worlds. War, murder, verbal abuse, all these emitted darkness from them that powered us. They live, unaware of how toxic their world is and how _we _must succumb to their despair. We must teach these other worlds what cruel beings they really are. In a few days, we will consume their worlds in darkness and give them a taste of their hate!"

The Destroyers back and growled for their leader. The many roars caused the heroes to feel as if the whole dimension began to shake.

"This guy means business!" Luigi whispered to the others. They had to do something about this guy before he attacked their worlds. Yoshi asked if they should attack, but Donkey Kong rejected the idea, saying they were hopelessly outnumbered from the Destroyer army.

"Seriously? You _chickens _think we can't fight these guys? Come on! We've handled worse before!" Wario complained as he began to come out from behind the boulder and charge at the Destroyer army, only for Donkey Kong to tug him back.

"You're calling_ us _chickens? May I remind you what happened earlier back at the caves?" Donkey Kong told him. Wario shouted back at him for bringing it up and the two began to argue with one another. Mario tried to quiet them down, but it was too late. They were spotted.

The Destroyers turned to the source of the noise and surrounded the heroes. They were frozen in shock. They knew they were in trouble now. They heard the swoop of wings in the air before the dragon landed right in front of them and stared them down with its pitch-black eyes.

"It seems we have a few _more_ trespassers." Malevo spoke. The heroes stared back in silence. Out of all the enemies they've faced so far, this dragon had this malicious atmosphere around him they've never felt before. Holding his breath, Luigi stood forward and began to speak.

"W-We won't let you through with this plan of yours!" Luigi spoke in an anxious tone. He wanted to appear brave and tried to speak with confidence, but ended up looking like he was about to wet his pants. After witnessing this act, Mario slapped himself in the forehead in embarrassment.

"Why do you appear so petrified? Do I appear to frighten you?" Malevo asked.

"Well...sorta." Luigi answered in hesitance.

"Allow me to further strike fear in you," he said. Malevo rose up to his feet and spread his wings out, stretching his neck high into the air before giving out an ear-splitting roar, causing the whole universe to literally shake. The heroes covered their ears, but it wasn't enough to prevent them from becoming slightly deaf. Malevo relaxed and looked back down to them, seeing them visibly shake. "Did that help?"

The heroes didn't answer. His roar had enough power to almost paralyze them in fear. But how did that work? There didn't appear anything special about his roar. Maybe it had something to do with the dark energy he supposedly possessed that created a drastic effect.

"Listen, we _won't _allow you to attack our worlds!" Mario snapped, He walked up right in front of Malevo. Intrigued by his courage, the dragon lowered it's head to him so they could look eye-to-eye. "I've met monsters like you before who've threatened to rule the world. From my experiences, you _will _fail. It's in your blood."

"Brave words from a puny being like you! But nothing you say will stop me." Malevo spoke. He raised his hand and it ignited in dark purple flames. He was about to throw a fireball at them when a beam of light shone on top of the heroes. Looking up, they saw a white portal above them and it began to suck them into it. Malevo proceeded to grab one of them, but missed and could only watch as the portal closed as they all entered it. Malevo growled angrily.

"You were lucky! I'll make sure to tear you into pieces next time!"

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails' House**_

It was the afternoon by the time Team Chaotix had reached Emerald Town. They had their minds focused on one task: find Sonic and his friends. After their encounter with the mysterious beast back in Empire City, they carried it back to their headquarters, along with their pay, and snapped pictures of it to show to Sonic. They were confident that he knew something about it, recalling to the moment in Carnival Park where they met the mysterious Mario and his friends.

"How do you know Sonic will know anything about this?" Espio asked Vector as the trio walked down the town's streets.

"Sonic and the others have been through some crazy adventures lately," Vector reminded him. He always saw news reports that featured the aftermath of the heroes' journeys, including the chase in Mazuri, the attack on Neo Prison Island, the race in Metal City and their latest attack on the fallen Eggtopia. Vector was sure they had come across _something _related to the beast they caught.

"What are we going to do with the beast? Can we keep him as a pet?" Charmy asked. Vector argued, saying it would be too troubling to keep a rowdy creature around, especially one that tried to kill them previously. Charmy pouted, annoyed that things barely went his way.

Team Chaotix soon reached Tails' house and knocked on the door. They were greeted by Tails, who had a wrench in his head and was covered in oil grease. He asked what their business here was for.

"Hey Tails, sorry to disturb you, but may we come in? We have something very important to discuss with Sonic." Vector explained. Tails welcomed them in, but told them Sonic wasn't here at the time and was out for a run. "Oh, no big deal. We can wait for him."

"Whoa! I've never been in your lab before! What does this do?" Charmy exclaimed, before touching one of Tails' gadgets on the table. Espio threw a shuriken at his hand, telling him to behave. Charmy stuck a tongue back at him in protest.

"Uhm...just make yourselves at home. I'm gonna go back downstairs and work on a few things." Tails told them, awkwardly heading back to his workshop. He hadn't expected the trio in the first place and he felt weird letting people he _barely _had connections to into his house. But they did help each other in the past before, so he could consider them acquaintances.

"Hello there, Mr. Vector!" Cream greeted them as she and Amy entered the lab from the living quarters upstairs. Although, Cream was ecstatic to see them, Amy was more or less annoyed by their appearance. Let's just say they never enjoyed each other's presence in the past.

"Oh, joy. Uhm...I'm gonna grab something to eat." Amy groaned, making an excuse to run back upstairs to avoid having to converse with them. Cream decided to stay and ask what they were doing there.

"We've come here to ask Sonic some important questions on a case we're trying to crack." Vector explained. Of course, Cream was curious, so Vector showed her the picture of the beast they had taken out earlier. She didn't recognize it, but stated it looked cute knocked out.

"Cute? Yeah, just wait until one of them tries to take a bite out of you." Espio commented. Suddenly, they were interrupted by the front door slamming open. Sonic had entered and he had a concerned look on his face.

"Where's Tails?" Sonic asked them. Vector pointed that he was downstairs and was about to ask him about the monster when Sonic told them to go outside. "You guys need to see what's going on outside."

Everyone soon went out to see what Sonic was talking about. At first, they didn't see anything out of the ordinary until Espio pointed out how dark it already became. They had just been outside not even ten minutes ago and it was shining brightly. Now the whole town was covered in a shadow. Charmy pointed up to the sky and realized what made it so dark.

Floating in place of the sun was a giant hole made up of dark, purple energy ripped into the sky. Within the hole, you could see a glimpse of what appeared to be another world, more specifically, a space world with floating islands and planets in the distance.

"Sonic, why is that there?" Tails asked in a concerned voice. Sonic could only shrug.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it's not good. We need to call the others about this."

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Not much action is written in this chapter. These first few chapters are meant to set up the big battle planned in the following chapters. I don't think that's a spoiler, considering one of the chapter titles I posted as a sneak peek is entitled, "War". What matters is how it unfolds. **

**Thanks for the support! Much appreciate to all of you! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

**_~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related materials. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~_**


	96. Rebellion!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 96: Rebellion!**_

* * *

_**Mushroom Kingdom, Peach's Castle**_

Mario slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by the face of Luigi. His brother smiled at him and began to call the others up to them, informing that Mario had finally woken up. He quickly sat up and looked around him. At first, he thought his eyes deceived him. He recognized the fancy foyer they were in, the red carpeted stairs he sat on. Around him, were the familiar faces of the Toad retainers watching him from a few feet away.

_Am I home?_

"That's right, bro! We're back home!" Luigi exclaimed as if he read his mind, although he could already tell what his brother was thinking from his expression alone. Mario couldn't believe it. It had been so long since he had stepped into the castle. He thought it was a dream at first, and began feeling the stairs and the doors of the castle. They were real! They were really home!

"Hold on a minute, how did we manage to get back home?" Mario questioned his brother. Luigi pointed to the top of the foyer stairs. Walking down towards them was Peach. In her hand she carried the Jeweled Sceptor. Mario was glad to see she was okay and ran up to hug her. The two embraced for a moment and looked at each other. Peach had an expressionless look on her face. Mario asked her what was wrong.

"Follow me outside." Peach said. The Mario Bros followed her to the front courtyard, where Yoshi, Donkey Kong and Wario were waiting for them. The Master Emerald was by their side as well. Along with them were Daisy and Toadette, who had been watching the castle for Peach during her absence.

"Hey Mario. It's been awhile. How you holding up?" Daisy asked him as she and Luigi hugged. Mario smiled and proceeded to greet Toadette. She hugged him and told him he was glad the heroes were safe.

"I was the one who opened the portal to pull you guys out of the Negative Dimension," Peach began to explain to Mario. She clutched the Jeweled Sceptor in her hands, which she had used to create the portal to the Mushroom Kingdom. "Earlier though, Bowser and I were in the dimension as well. We met a terrible monster there, known by the name of Malevo."

Mario nodded, explaining he and the other heroes had encountered the dragon as well. He knew what Peach was leading to. An evil entity threatened the well-being of their worlds. They _had _to stop him before it destroyed them. He wondered if Sonic and the others knew about this. While in thought, Mario was interrupted by Peach, who began to cry.

"What's the matter, princess?" Mario asked, wiping away a tear from her cheek. She took a moment to calm herself down. She told them how Bowser was attacked by Malevo. After they escaped, she tried to wake him up, but he remained unconscious. Toad doctors examined him, but were clueless to why he wouldn't wake up. Then they noticed he wasn't breathing at all.

"Bowser is...I think he's..." Peach tried to speak, but couldn't hold her composure. She dropped the Jeweled Sceptor on the ground and began to cry for him, covering her face with her hands. Mario hugged her and tried comfort her. He had never seen her this upset before. What made it ironic was it was all for a villain who terrorized them night and day. Peach mourned for Bowser as if he was their family. Considering how much they interacted with each other, _even _on bad terms, Mario began to feel the same way with him and the loss greatly affected him.

Mario couldn't live without Bowser, and vice-versa. Their lives would have been pointless all this time.

"Where is Bowser?" Mario asked Peach. She told him he was still inside one of the castle's bedrooms, being taken care of at the moment. Mario nodded. This villain they just became aware of, Malevo. He was a serious threat to the world. He wondered how they were going to handle him.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over the town, covering up the once bright and sunny area into darkness.

"Look up there!" Yoshi shouted, pointing up to the sky. Everyone looked up and saw that the sun was blocked by a large, hole ripped into the sky. The heroes noticed what was on the other side. It was the Negative Dimension itself! A gateway had managed to open up between the worlds.

"Bro? What do we do?" Luigi asked nervously. Mario thought for a moment, trying to remember what Malevo had told them. The dragon said he would be bringing a force to consume both worlds into darkness. The force may have been the army of Destroyers he controlled and the hole in the sky may be a way for them to attack their world. But it wasn't just their world Malevo aimed for. Sonic's world was in jeopardy as well. How were they going to inform him?

Mario looked down to the Jeweled Sceptor that Peach dropped onto the ground. He picked it up and grabbed Luigi's hand. He asked what his brother was about to do.

"We're going back to Sonic's world!" Mario told him. He would use the Jeweled Sceptor to create a portal to their world. He had to tell Sonic and his friends about the impending attack.

"Wait! What do you want us to do while you're gone?" Yoshi called to them. Mario explained they needed as much reinforcements for the battle to come and told him to recruit the other heroes to help them in the fight. Yoshi nodded and brought Donkey Kong and Wario with him to go recruit their friends.

"Give me a moment." Wario told them. He was embracing the Master Emerald in his arms and kissed it, admiring it's beauty. Donkey Kong shook his head and tore him away from the emerald. Wario began to complain, saying he wasn't finished.

"Brace yourself, Luigi." Mario warned his brother. Luigi gave him a thumbs-up, but suddenly told him to wait. Luigi ran back to the Master Emerald and picked it up, gently patting the top of it.

"I'm sure he will be glad to see it again." Luigi said, referring to Knuckles. Mario smiled, knowing what he was talking about.

The two stood in the center of the castle's front courtyard. Mario pointed the Jeweled Sceptor up in the air and thought about Sonic's world. A beam of light shot in the air and a portal appeared above them. They slowly floated up into the portal. It flashed as they entered through it.

"So it looks like a huge battle is about to take place." Daisy sighed, putting a hand onto Peach's shoulder. It had been awhile since she'd gotten some action in her life. She turned to Peach. "So, sister, are you ready for this?"

Peach slowly nodded. Her kingdom was threatened with invasion. She was not going to standby and watch it be attacked. She was going to fight.

* * *

_**Emerald Town, Tails' House**_

"What are we going to do about it?" Knuckles asked them. The group were unsure at the moment. He had been called down by Sonic to talk about the matter at hand. The group stood outside Tails' house. Among them were Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, Blaze, Silver and Team Chaotix. They were currently discussing about the shadow hole that appeared in the sky.

"It just appeared out of nowhere. It's nothing I've seen before." Silver told them. Blaze nodded to him. The two, along with Knuckles, had been searching for their lost artifacts. They were on the continent of Apotos by the time the dark hole appeared in the sky. They trekked back to Emerald Town to see what was going on.

"The government suspects it's another extraterrestrial attack. Isn't that right, Shadow?" Rouge commented. Shadow simply shrugged, thinking an alien attack was _simply _outlandish. The two had been at the G.U.N. Base at Neo Prison Island when the hole opened up. As the military began analyzing the hole, the two decided to look to their friends for their opinion.

"Well, whatever it is, it's gotta be dangerous." Sonic explained to them. He turned back and stared at the dark hole in the sky. It sent chills down his spine. It felt like evil had opened entered through their front door, unwelcomed. "Who knows what could pop out from the other side."

"Uhm...I may have a rough idea on what lurks on the other side." Vector spoke up. He and the rest of Team Chaotix had been quiet the whole time. Vector took out a picture of the mysterious beast they took down in Empire City and showed it to them. "I have a feeling this guy came from the universe on the other side of that hole."

"It _does _kind of look like it could be from a place like that." Tails commented. "Do you think more could come? What if there was a whole army of them?"

"That sounds scary. What are we going to do about it then?" Amy asked. The heroes were clueless at this point. All of a sudden, a portal appeared in the sky a few blocks away from them. A beam of light struck down onto the ground. The heroes ran to where the ground had been struck and were surprised to what was in front of them.

It was Mario and Luigi!

"Whoa! You guys are okay!" Sonic exclaimed. The others were glad to see them as well. It had been almost two weeks since they've seen them. Mario and Luigi greeted them.

"No way...could that be...the Master Emerald?!" Knuckles said, looking at it in disbelief. Luigi held it in his hands and carried it towards the echidna.

"I know you've missed this _baby_ of yours. Here you go!" Luigi said, passing the emerald to Knuckles, who thanked him greatly.

"Blaze, look what's in Mario's hand." Silver pointed it out to her. Blaze gave a surprised look to see the Jeweled Sceptor in his hands. Mario went up to her and handed it back. She thanked him.

"Alright, what's the big deal?" Sonic asked them with a smile on his face. "You disappear during our attack on Eggtopia, then you suddenly come back carrying the lost artifacts with you. Are you guys magicians or something?"

"There's a lot to talk about." Mario told them. He and Luigi began to explain about their situation. How Metal Sonic managed to transport them into the Negative Dimension. How they are threatened by it's ruler, Malevo, and that within days his army of Destroyers would attack both their worlds and consume them with darkness. Sonic and friends were struck with awe. Things were a lot more serious than they expected.

"So what are we going to do? "Cream asked.

"We need to stand our ground. Do whatever it takes to stop this Malevo guy and his crazy army." Sonic said. He pounded a fist into his open hand. "Come on guys, we've dealt with a lot of bad guys before. What's the difference with this one? So what if he's a dragon? It's not the first we fought him! Remember when Metal Sonic turned into that stupid, metal dragon? We beat him!"

"Yes, Sonic, but that was with the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow reminded him. "Do we have the Chaos Emeralds now? No, we don't."

"The Chaos Emeralds may still be in the Negative Dimension," Mario told them, remembering that they were sucked into the portal as well. "But Metal Sonic drained the energy out of them. They were dull and colourless the last time I saw them. And even if we could go back to get them, it's too dangerous with the army waiting."

"Speaking of Metal Sonic, what happened to him?" Blaze asked. Mario remembered that Peach told him Metal Sonic was torn to bits by Malevo when he tried to harness the dark energy.

"The robot deserved it." Knuckles commented.

"He wasn't the only one that suffered at Malevo's hands," Mario spoke, suddenly saddened. He sighed and remembered Peach crying back at her castle. "Somehow, he _killed_ Bowser when he protected Peach in the Negative Dimension."

Sonic and his friends were silent. They never thought that a villain, such as Bowser, would do such a noble thing and end up paying for it.

"Okay everyone, we need to prepare ourselves," Sonic began to speak, looking over to his friends. "In a few days, an army of killer monsters will spawn through that hole in the sky and stop at nothing to take over our worlds. We aren't going to let them win. So I suggest you guys get some well-deserved rest, because we're going to war!"

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for uploading this chapter a day late. I was busy with a few things yesterday that my mind forgot to update this story. Better late than never, I guess.**

**This is it. We've finally come to the big battle in the story. An all-out war between the heroes and the Negative Dimension. What can you expect in the upcoming chapters? Action. Pure action like you've never read before in this story. The heroes will go full throttle. And it will be epic! ;)**

**I appreciate all your support. Thanks for reading. Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

**_~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~_**


	97. War!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 97: War!**_

* * *

_**A few days later..**_

It was silent across the Mushroom Fields. The only sound heard throughout the area was the quiet breeze whistling. The field spanned miles and miles across the entire kingdom. Various Item Blocks floated out in the open, while Warp Pipes stuck out of the ground, which led to other parts of the kingdom. The sky was covered with dreary clouds, along the hole to the Negative Dimension.

At the moment, Mario and his friends waited patiently within the field. It would be a matter of time before Malevo and his army would attack their worlds. The heroes felt a little anxious. They had never fought in a full-out war before.

"You ready for this, brother?" Luigi asked him. The two were sitting together on a few floating item blocks. Luigi had his steel hammer out, prepared for combat. He spun it around in front of him.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Mario answered back. He looked over to his comrades, all who were recruited to fight against the Destroyer army. He prayed that none of them would become a casualty. This battle would be gruesome for all of them, and they would need to pull every last of their efforts into winning.

"You didn't have to come if you didn't want to, you know." Yoshi explained to Catherine, his Birdo friend. She assured him she wanted to be there for him. She didn't want to stand back and do nothing.

"You've been really good to me, Yoshi. I want to repay the favour" Catherine told him, causing Yoshi to smile in glee.

"Did you get everything set up, buddy?" Donkey Kong asked. Diddy Kong nodded, pulling out his fully loaded Peanut Pop Guns.

"I even added little adjustments to my rocketbarrel pack so I can boost really fast in the air!" Diddy Kong exclaimed, pointing to his backpack, which hid his rockets. Donkey Kong approved him by giving a high-five.

"Tell me again why _I _was forced to come fight with you guys?" Waluigi snarled at Wario. He had been dragged into this whole mess ever since the heroes returned to their world.

"Because I didn't want to be stuck fighting with these losers by myself!" Wario answered as he lied on the ground and picked his nose. "Plus, I needed you to bring my car. It's going to come really handy when we take out these stupid monsters!" He patted the hood of his purple car, which was parked right behind him in the field. It was the same one he'd used during their _Double Dash _kart tournaments.

"I can't believe I'm going to fight with you guys." Toadette said, a little nervous. This was the first time she'd _ever _been in a battle. But it was for the good of her kingdom. Daisy decided to help her out by handing her a Super Acorn. Toadette absorbed it's powers and transformed into a Pink Flying Squirrel form. She thanked Daisy. "Thanks! This is going to help me!"

"No problem!" Daisy responded. She turned back to Peach, who had her white umbrella with her. She went up to her side and hugged her. "You sure you want to go through with this?"

"I must. I need to stand up for my kingdom and help defend it." Peach spoke. It was true. She never had the chance to fight whenever the Mushroom Kingdom attacked, mostly because Bowser would kidnap her. But this time the circumstances were different. A new evil arose and threatened them. She was ready to fight.

And she was ready to avenge Bowser.

"Guys! Look!" Luigi shouted, pointing to the dark hole as it rumbled. Everybody got into battle positions as hordes of Destroyers plunged out of the hole and into the Mushroom Fields. The Destroyers on ground began to roar loudly and started charging through the fields. The Winged Destroyers hissed out and flew around in the sky.

"We stand up for the kingdom, or fall with it!" Mario commanded the heroes. He took out a Fire Flower power-up from his pocket and absorbed it, turning into Fire Mario. He jumped down to the ground and ignited his hands on fire, heading towards the army of Destroyers in the distance as his comrades followed him.

"Let's-a go!"

* * *

_**Westside Island, Emerald Fields**_

The heroes decided to take their stand inside the Emerald Hill Zone. It's luscious, rolling fields provided enough space to hold the army of Destroyers that would attack. Sonic and the others all grouped together atop a hill, keeping a close eye on the gateway in the sky. It would be their first time encountering the beasts of Negative Dimension. They wanted to be ready for them.

"So, how's that Master Emerald of yours doing?" Silver asked, turning to Knuckles. He explained how he brought it back to Angel Island, allowing it to float back in the sky. He felt as if a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders now that he did his duty as it's guardian by bringing it back yet again. All he had to worry about was defending their world.

"You know you didn't have to do this." Blaze said to Cream, kneeling down to her so she could see her sincere expression. Even though she was just a child, Cream wanted to help her friends. She knew what the risks were, but that didn't stop her from standing up and taking a stand for the protection of her world.

"I want to do this, Blaze. I won't allow monsters taking over our world." Cream told her. Blaze nodded, impressed by her courage, but still hesitant of her participation. She couldn't bare to see Cream physically hurt. But this is what she wanted to do.

"You appear to be calm. Aren't you even a little scared about this?" Rouge asked Shadow, who simply chuckled as if she was joking.

"These creatures will be no match against me. I _am _the ultimate lifeform, may I remind you." Shadow spoke confidently. Rouge smiled. Even under the severe circumstances, Shadow had a hint of humour in him.

"Expect this to be all over the news, boys! We'll become famous for our heroics!" Vector talked to his team, trying to motivate their spirits. He imagined the publicity they would get for defending their world. The fame, the fortune, just thinking about it made Vector drool. Charmy laughed at the saliva dripping from his mouth, while Espio rolled his eyes as he continued sharpening his kunais.

"I just want you guys to know, whatever happens out there, we're doing this for the good of our world." Amy spoke. She held her Piko Piko Hammer over her shoulders. Having the thought of the world's fate resting upon their shoulders scared her, but as long as she was beside her friends, she had the confidence to go through it. Sonic went to her side and winked to her.

"Don't go _too _berserk with that hammer! Leave enough of those monsters for the rest of us." Sonic joked, causing Amy to giggle. It helped that he would try to make things lighthearted. Sonic looked over to Tails, who had his back turned to him as he crouched down. Sonic rose an eyebrow. "Hey, buddy, whatcha' up to?"

"Oh, nothing. Just this!" Tails exclaimed, turning around to reveal a miniature orange cannon in the place of his right hand. Sonic was impressed and told him he looked cool with it. Tails grinned. "Gee, thanks! I've been working on it for the past few hours. It should be combat-ready. Although, I didn't get the chance to actually test it."

"Just keep your aim on the enemy and you'll be just fine." Sonic assured him. He was about to change topic when the gateway began to rumble. In a matter of seconds, a whole army of Destroyers poured into the fields. Sonic turned to the other heroes, who prepared themselves for combat. He went forward and yelled out a battle cry.

"Let's kick these baddies back into their world! Let's go!"

The rest of the heroes charged along him towards the Destroyer army. Sonic attacked with a chain of Homing Attacks, taking out a row of enemies at a rapid pace. Whenever possible, he'd roll across the ground at high speeds, drilling through the Destroyers with his Spin-Dash technique. With each hit, the Destroyers would disappear in black smoke.

Shadow focused using the Chaos energy within him and fired sharp shots of Chaos Spears at the Destroyers as he skate by them. At times, he'd power himself up with the Chaos energy, increasing his physical strength by a huge margin and took out the Destroyers with a barrage of punches and kicks.

Blaze took advantage of her pyrokinesis, igniting her whole body in a fire and proceeding to create a flaming tornado around her, burning away enemies in close vicinity in a graceful manner. She then boosted her way through the Destroyers in a fiery rage.

Espio sped his way through a horde of Destroyers. They attempted to bite him, but they were too slow to catch him. He flipped through the air and summoned a swirling tornado of leaves to sweep the Destroyers into the air. He threw a handful of explosive shurikens at them, taking them all out.

With his game face, Knuckles fought his way through the Destroyer army, taking each out with a powerful punch. After he grew bored of feeding the monsters his fists, he jumped into the air and glided above them, finding the right place to lay a strong punch into the ground, creating a shockwave and knocking a group of Destroyers away from him, all taking intense damage.

Amy swung her Piko Piko Hammer furiously at the Destroyers, taking them out one by one. When one Destroyer grabbed her hammer with it's mouth, Amy fought with it to try and make it let go. Furious, she began to spin herself around in circles, hoping the Destroyer would lose grip and let go. It worked and it fell off. Amy continued to spin around in circles, sweeping away any other Destroyers who dared to get close to her.

Vector fought back using his brute strength alone. He punched Destroyers right in their jaws and tackled them down, beating them mercilessly. Unfortunately, one Destroyer happened to bite him by the tail, causing him to scream in pain. He turned around and punched them away. Thinking of a technique, he clasped his jaw on one of the Destroyers tails and swung them around in circles, knocking away the enemies close to him.

Not only were there the Destroyers on the ground to deal with, but the Winged Destroyers took over the skies. The heroes that could go airborne dealt with them. Charmy buzzed around the skies and jabbed his stinger into the backs of the Destroyers, causing them to become paralyzed and fall to the ground, allowing the heroes on the ground to finish them off.

Cream took a much different approach in fighting. She allowed a group of Winged Destroyers to chase her around the sky, which gave Cheese the opportunity to sneak a tackle to their heads, knocking them out of the air. Occasionally, Cream would kick the enemies on the back of their heads when they least expected it.

As a skilled kickboxer, Rouge used a variety of strong kicks to fight against the enemy as she flew around the sky and fought back. She would spin herself like a drill and charge at the Destroyers, severely damaging them. She wasn't unequipped though, as she threw dummy ring bombs at them whenever she'd get the chance

Tails flew around and tackled Destroyers into each other, slamming them with full force and knocking them out. He was very quick in the air, so Destroyers would struggle to catch him as they chased after, only to end up knocking into one another. Tails seized the opportunity to test his Energy Cannon. He fired powerful shots of electricity back at the Winged Destroyers, finishing them off in seconds.

"This is way too easy!" Sonic exclaimed, taking out the last Destroyer around him. He looked around the battle field, noticing that a majority of the Destroyers were gone as the other heroes continued to fight. Their efforts were superior and the heroes showed no signs of stopping. Sonic was confident that they would win. Suddenly, he heard the gateway rumble once again, spitting out another army of Destroyers. Sonic shook his head in slight annoyance, before charging towards the next wave of enemies.

"These guys can keep coming at us for all I care. I can do this all day!"

* * *

"Take this, you crazy monsters!" Luigi yelled out. He was riding on Yoshi as they both charged through the army of Destroyers. They had just taken out the first wave of them before another wave rushed into the battle. The heroes wouldn't allow this to stop them, so they continued to fight. Yoshi ran at a fast pace, swallowing up Destroyers and turning them into eggs. Luigi swung his hammer around furiously, bashing the enemy by the skulls.

"Keep going! We've got this!" Daisy shouted to Toadette. The two had watched each others backs during the battle, helping one another when they needed it. Toadette was gliding across the air using her Acorn power-up, stomping on the Destroyers heads. Daisy may have been in her dress, but she didn't let that stop her from wrecking havoc in the battle. She brought her trusty tennis racket with her and smacked the bad guys right in the face. It seemed to be effective, as she would leave a trail of Destroyers knocked out behind her.

"Do you see the pathetic faces they give when we blow them up? Gwahahah!" Waluigi chuckled. He was riding along the back of Wario's car as the two drove across the field. Destroyers would chase after them, but they were no match as Waluigi would throw Bob-ombs at them, blowing groups of them into the sky. "I'm glad you told me to come! This is exciting!"

"Yeah, just don't get too excited to the point you wet your pants! I want my baby kept clean after this battle!" Wario called back to him, patting the side of his car as he took a sharp U-turn towards another group of Destroyers, ramming through them as if he was the bowling ball and they were the pins.

The Kongs easily held their own against the Destroyers. Donkey Kong was throwing powerful punches at the enemy, even picking them up a few times and chucking them back at their comrades. Diddy Kong flew around with his rocketbarrel jetpack, shooting at the Winged Destroyers with his Peanut popguns, exploding them on contact.

"Watch out!" Yoshi yelled to Catherine, who had her back turned away from a group of Destroyers. He charged at them and knocked each of them down with a forceful headbutt. Catherine thanked him, before putting her attention to the Winged Destroyers. Being a Birdo, she could spit heavy eggs at them, knocking them to the ground and disabling them, allowing the heroes to finish them off.

"I won't allow you to take over my kingdom!" Peach shouted as she attacked the Destroyers. She smacked them using her parasol, which she was efficient in using. She handled it with amazing technique as if it was a sword and knocked back Destroyers in succession. Whenever she found herself surrounded, she would use her levitating abilities to escape and find a better area to fight in.

Mario fought vigorously against the Destroyers, throwing a barrage of fireballs at them with his Fire Flower power-up. He utilized the ability to allow him to throw fiery punches and kicks. At times, he would grab a Destroyer by the tail and swung them around, throwing them at the Winged ones in the sky and knocking them both out. After clearing a batch of Destroyers, Mario took a moment to catch his breath and wipe away sweat from his forehead. This was the most intense fighting he had done in a long time. But he needed to protect their world at all costs.

Suddenly, he heard a cry for help a few feet away from him. It was Peach, who had been caught by a Winged Destroyer and was being carried into the air. Mario looked around him, seeing what he could use to save her. Eyeing an item block, he hit it, causing a Tanooki Suit to pop out. He called out to Peach and threw the power-up at her. It made contact with Peach and transformed her into Tanooki form, changing her dress completely brown and adding ears and a tail to her.

Peach struggled and smacked the Winged Destroyer in the stomach with her tail, causing it to drop her. Mario ran to catch her, but noticed she was able to use the Tanooki suits abilities to float her to safety. Landing on the ground, she collapsed. Mario ran to help her up.

"I don't know much more I can handle, Mario." Peach told him in an exhausted voice. Mario understood her. This was the most she'd fought in her whole life. She was never used to this endurance. Mario reminded her they needed every single one of them to fight against the army to stand a chance. They were doing this to protect not only the kingdom, but their whole world as well. Peach took a moment to catch her breath and assured Mario she was willing to fight to the death to protect the place and people she loved so much.

"Mario! We have a big problem! I mean _literally_!" Yoshi called out to him, pointing to the dimension gateway in the sky. Not only was another wave of Destroyers coming through, but they were joined by a Serpent Destroyer. It was a large, snake creature with purple scales and a black underbelly. It had a row of black spikes trailing along it's body, running all the way to the tail. It gave a loud hiss before charging into the battle.

"Where did _that_ guy come from!?" Luigi screamed in shock. Mario told him there was no time for questions and threw him a Fire Flower power-up, transforming him into Fire Luigi. He gripped his hammer, causing the top of it to catch ablaze in green fire. Mario and Peach joined him as they charged towards the Serpent Destroyer at once, hoping to defeat it as the others continued fighting against the Destroyer army.

"You guys try to distract it while I attack from behind!" Mario commanded. Peach and Luigi moved forward and allowed the Serpent Destroyer to chase after. Mario stayed back and watched them pass him and followed behind. The Serpent Destroyer slithered across the field and hissed at Peach and Luigi. Luigi took the opportunity to shoot fireballs from his hammer, which ended up getting swallowed by the Serpent Destroyer. It quickly lunged at them, but Peach used her Tanooki tail to swipe back furiously, keeping it at bay.

Meanwhile, Mario caught up to the Serpent Destroyer and climbed along it's back, aiming for it's head region. On the way, he held both hands in the air and charged a massive fireball. Reaching the head, he jumped over it and chucked the super fireball back, causing tremendous damage to the Serpent Destroyer. It hissed out painfully, before collapsing on the ground.

"Nice shot, bro." Luigi complimented him. Peach gave a quick smile, which Mario returned. The trio took in their victory, but unexpectedly the Serpent Destroyer rose back up and whipped its tail around them, constricting them. The heroes tried to escape, but they were held tightly. The Serpent Destroyer eyed them for a moment, before lunging it's head to devour them.

Out of nowhere, a huge fireball was shot and hit the Serpent Destroyer directly, causing it to turn to the source. Standing a few feet away from them, was Bowser. Smoke emitted from his nostrils. He gave an intimidating stare before speaking.

"Tell your _master_ he needs to trying harder if he wants me dead." Bowser announced, before charging another fireball. This time the flames were a purple colour and had a tornado shape surrounding it. As the Serpent Destroyer charged it's head at him, Bowser shot the purple fire tornado, igniting it's face on fire. It hissed in pain, before collapsing on the ground and disappearing in black smoke, signifying it's defeat.

"Bowser! You're okay!" Peach cried out, thrilled to see he was back on his feet. Even the Mario Bros. were glad he appeared. Peach explained how they thought he was dead. Bowser simply laughed at the claim.

"That Malevo guy should know _nothing _can stop the koopa king!" Bowser bragged. He decided to hide the fact the Toad retainers had to gather a horde of 1-Up Mushrooms to revive him simply to make his comeback more astounding. He looked over to the battle going on in the field between the heroes and the Destroyer army. He looked towards Mario and both nodded to each other, signifying a temporary truce. Bowser walked towards a group of Destroyers, cracking his knuckles along the way. "He thinks he can consume our worlds in darkness? What a stupid dream he has!"

Mario stared up to the dimension gateway, noticing more and more Destroyers entering the battle. They would not stop coming, would they? He turned to Luigi and Peach, who looked ready to fight again, but had signs of weariness in them.

For now, they were winning. But how long would it be before the army would soon overwhelm them?

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: The first part of the epic battle between the heroes and the Negative Dimension army! In this chapter, every hero encountered in this entire story has joined together to partake in the final fight. Everybody has their moment to shine. More surprises are to come in the last chapters. ;)**

**Thanks for the support! Big appreciations! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

**_~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~_**


	98. Our Last Hope!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 98: Our Last Hope!**_

* * *

_**Westside Island, Emerald Fields**_

"This guy won't stop, will he?" Silver spoke in frustration. He was using his telekinesis powers to distract the Serpent Destroyer that entered the battle by throwing minion Destroyers at it while Blaze and Espio chased after it from behind and attacked. The Serpent Destroyer would only smack its thrown comrades away as it lunged towards Silver.

"Aim for the head!" Blaze called to Espio. He charged forward up to the head and threw a few kunais at towards it, catching the Serpent Destroyer's attention. Blaze sneaked behind it and used her pyrokinesis to summon a large wall of fire, igniting the Destroyer and defeating it.

"That took _way _too long to stop that thing." Espio commented, wiping sweat from his forehead. Silver agreed and said he needed to take a break. They had been fighting against the Destroyer army for only a short awhile and the exhaustion was already getting to them.

"You are no match for _my _powers!" Shadow insulted the Destroyers as he boosted through them. He stopped momentarily, seeing as a group of them surrounded him. He charged as much Chaos energy within him and began to glow red. In an instance, a large blast of Chaos energy exploded out of him, annihilating all the Destroyers around him. He suddenly collapsed in the middle of the field. Rouge saw him and helped him up.

"Shadow! What's wrong?" she asked. Shadow explained he began feeling his Chaos energy run low. If he had a Chaos Emerald with him, he wouldn't have any trouble with this. But because he relied on using his own energy, he began to feel tired. Rouge tried to convince him to rest for a minute, but Shadow resented.

"These guys just keep coming!" Knuckles yelled to him as he took another group of Destroyers. He was caught off guard when one of them headbutted him, knocking him onto the ground. A few of them were about to pounce on him before Tails flew in and carried Knuckles away.

"Sonic! Help me!" Amy called out to him. She had a Destroyer on top of her and struggled as it tried to take a bite out of her. Sonic sped to her rescue, knocking the Destroyer off with a Homing Attack and carried Amy to a safe place on the field. She became irritated and began to shout. "How long is this going to last? It's only a matter of time before they start overpowering us!"

"I...I don't know." Sonic answered. He wanted to tell her they had to keep fighting if they wanted to win, but from the looks of it, this battle appeared to strive on until the heroes couldn't handle it anymore. Things appeared bleak to them. No matter how many Destroyers they got rid of, more would take their places.

Suddenly, the two were attacked by a group of Winged Destroyers. They all charged at them at once. The two couldn't react in time and ended up getting pummelled by them. Sonic was thrown to the side with bruises, while they crowded around Amy and were about to finish her off. Sonic tried to get up, but was stung by the pain from the bruises, and could only watch as Amy screamed for help.

All hope seemed lost to them. It wasn't until a few figures came out of nowhere and rescued them, only it wasn't who they expected.

"Take this, you creeps!" Junior shouted, spinning around in his shell and bouncing off the Winged Destroyers, knocking them all out. He went up to Amy and carried her back to Sonic. Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman appeared in his Eggmobile with a wrecking ball attached at the bottom. He swung at the Winged Destroyers, taking them out in one clean motion.

"You...helped us." Sonic spoke, surprised to see the both of them. Junior laid Amy on the ground, who was wincing over the bruises on her. Sonic cringed to see her hurt so badly. He ran up to her side and held her hand tightly. He turned up to the duo who saved them. "I thought you guys went down with Eggtopia."

"Have you forgotten who I am, Sonic?" Eggman reminded him as he floated the Eggmobile to their level. He looked over to the ensuing battle in the field and slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid your current efforts will be futile."

"I bet that's what you want anyway." Sonic snapped at him.

"Oh, you must take my word on this. I am totally _against _all of this."

"You're not going to stop this army," Junior began to explain. Prior to all of this, Metal Sonic explained to Junior how the Negative Dimension had unlimited dark energy the controller possessed. He was able to create as many Destroyers to his content, which suggested the only way to stop the army was to stop Malevo himself.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Sonic asked.

"Like how you've always done it. With the Chaos Emeralds." Eggman reminded him. Sonic argued and said the Chaos Emeralds were still left in the Negative Dimension and, according to Mario, their energy was sucked out, rendering them powerless. "Well, according to Mario's explanation, it seems that only the negative energy was sucked out. The positive energy may still be within them."

"Think about it, why would you need positive energy to enter the _Negative_ Dimension? It's obvious, duh!" Junior clued Sonic. The hedgehog hadn't thought about it earlier, as he was more focused on fighting against the army. The villain's points seemed to be plausible enough.

"So you think if we get the Chaos Emeralds, we'll have a chance at saving our worlds?" Sonic asked, just to make sure. Eggman nodded. Although, he'd never agree to do this, under these circumstances of the worlds doomed to fall apart, the doctor had no choice but to assist Sonic, if _he _ever wanted to conquer the world. He wouldn't be able if there were _no_ worlds to conquer.

"Hop in." Eggman gestured him to the Eggmobile. Sonic looked down to Amy, who nodded for him to go. Before leaving, he shouted to Tails to carry Amy to a safe place. Tails noticed Eggman and Junior and asked him what was happening.

"We're going to win this war." Sonic simply answered.

Sonic jumped into the Eggmobile, along with Junior. Eggman detached the wrecking ball from his machine, which allowed them to fly through the air faster. The trio headed towards the dimension gateway as more Destroyers piled through it.

"I thought you wanted all of this." Sonic asked Junior, referring to the Destroyer army. "What made you change your mind?"

Junior explained how the only reason he went along with the Negative Dimension plan was to please his father and show he was capable of doing great things. It wasn't until during the battle on Eggtopia that Bowser told his son he was proud of him no matter what he did. That's when he realized the plan seemed unnecessary. And even a little crazy. Their worlds were threatened to be destroyed by darkness. How would Bowser be proud of his son if there _was _no world for them to live in?

"Brace yourselves!" Eggman told them as they neared the dimension gateway in the sky. Winged Destroyers noticed them and began to attack. Eggman smirked and pushed a button, causing a Bazooka cannon and Laser Blaster to pop out from the sides of the Eggmobile. He fired bullet shots and lasers at the Destroyers. It looked like a fireworks show as the enemies were hit and exploded from Eggman's assault.

The trio entered into the Negative Dimension, receiving their first glimpse of the world. They were astonished by it's space atmosphere, the floating islands and the enormous planets in the distance. They couldn't enjoy the view for too long, as Destroyers began to attack them. Eggman continued to shoot their way through the army. At the same time, he handed both Sonic and Junior devices, each having a screen on top and a button on the bottom.

"You two are going to find the Chaos Emeralds while I fend off these foul beasts!" Eggman explained to them. The two nodded and jumped off the Eggmobile, leaving Eggman to fight the Destroyers himself. Sonic hated to admit it, but he gave credit to the doctor's daring actions.

He and Junior landed on one of the islands. They turned on their devices, which were Emerald Radars. Energy of the Chaos Emeralds appeared on screen, showing them their locations. Sonic grinned. Eggman _was_ right about how all of their energy wasn't completely gone. It looked like there was hope after all.

"We'll split up! Search this part of the dimension while you search the other. Meet here once you find the Chaos Emeralds!" Junior explained. Sonic nodded and the two went on their separate ways. Sonic sped through the Negative Dimension, hopping from island to island. He quickly adapted to the low-gravity of the world.

"One of the emeralds is closeby." Sonic said, looking down to his radar and seeing he was closing in on an emerald. He looked forward and saw a Chaos Emerald laying out in the open on a smaller islet. He went to it and picked it up, noticing it's colour was gone. Sonic looked back to his radar and headed to the next emerald.

Meanwhile, Junior had already found two Chaos Emeralds already. Perched on the edge of an island's cliff, he checked over his radar. He noticed that an emerald was moving not too far from him. Looking over, he saw a pair of Winged Destroyers carrying the emerald in their claws.

"Hey! That isn't yours!" Junior called out to them. He ran towards them and jumped, grabbing onto the one holding the emerald. It hissed at him and struggled to throw him off, but Junior was persistent and held on tightly. The other Winged Destroyer went up to him and started scratching Junior. Enduring the attack, he used both feet to kicked them away. Focusing on the other Winged Destroyer, Junior shot a fireball onto it's head, burning them and causing the Chaos Emerald to fall. Junior dove down to it and caught it. He tumbled across the ground and landed on an island below. He coughed as he dusted himself off.

"Man! Those maniacs are bonkers!" Junior complained. He looked to the Chaos Emerald he just retrieved and wondered how Sonic was doing.

With three Chaos Emeralds in tow, Sonic headed towards the last emerald. It seemed to be lost on a large island with a bluff sticking out from the middle. As Sonic reached it, he headed for the bluff, only to be greeted by a surprising sight.

Scattered across the ground were the pieces of Metal Sonic and his decapitated head.

"Should've seen it coming." Sonic spoke, unconcerned about the robot's well-being. He returned his focus to the emerald. The radar showed it was on the other side of the bluff. Sonic ran around it and found the Chaos Emerald lying there out in the open. As Sonic went for it, he was stopped by a giant, menacing dragon. It scooped the emerald into it's large fingers and eyed it.

"So _this _is one of the seven sacred emeralds that allowed the connection to our worlds? These tidbits don't seem capable enough to handle such powers, but they did finish the job." Malevo spoke. He stared down to Sonic, who looked back at him angrily. Malevo was surprised to see him and squinted. "Why, I thought I got rid of you earlier."

"You talking about that metal trash you left behind there? Are you blind or something? We look _nothing _alike!" Sonic spoke.

"Aren't you getting a little defensive."

"Well, technically you called me a robot, which I'm not."

"It doesn't matter! Soon, your worlds will be consumed in darkness and _I _will be the supreme leader of them all! There is nothing you are capable of doing that will stop me." Malevo roared. Suddenly, he began to charge a dark and powerful energy beam from his mouth, quickly firing it at Sonic, who covered himself from the attack. The beam had left a large crater in the ground, but that was not all.

Crouched down in the crater was Sonic, except he didn't appear harmed. Instead, his whole body appeared to be flashing in rainbow colours. In his hand was one of the Chaos Emeralds. At the last second, Sonic remembered about the Rainbow Star power-up he absorbed in Mario's world and used the Chaos Emerald to activate it's abilities.

"You're going to have to try harder than that!" Sonic teased. He began to charge a Rainbow Spin-Dash. Bright lights began to surround him. Malevo shot another Dark Beam at him, but it had no effect. It was like he was invincible to his attacks. Sonic soon shot himself at Malevo, hitting him right in the jaw and causing him to drop the last Chaos Emerald. Sonic went and grabbed for it, taking off immediately to find Junior.

"You pesky being! You dare attack me? I'll squash you like a bug!" Malevo roared in anger. He opened his wings and flew after Sonic, shooting his Dark Beam at him. Sonic was too fast for him as he hopped from island to island at supersonic speeds. He headed to the location where he would meet Junior.

"Junior! Pass me the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic called out to him. Seeing that he was being chased by Malevo, Junior wasted no time throwing them to him.

Sonic threw his emeralds together with the others and focused on absorbing it's powers. With their negative energy gone, he had to focus on their positive energy. He began to think of positive thoughts. He thought about his friends in his world, the moments he shared and enjoyed with them. Then he began to think of Mario's world and the friendships he was able to establish with them. He thought about all the adventures he endured with them and how they were the best ones he'd been on his entire life.

The Chaos Emeralds suddenly began to glow and regained their true colours. They began to float around Sonic as his whole body began to glow. As the emeralds began to spin around him faster, Sonic began to scream. A bright flash illuminated around him and his fur changed from his usual blue to a golden yellow. His eyes turned from emerald green to a crimson red. His quills floated upwards while a fiery golden aura with sparks covered around his body.

Sonic was now Super Sonic!

"Whoa! So cool!" Junior exclaimed, hopping up and down from Sonic's transformation. Super Sonic simply floated there in space as the Chaos Emeralds spun around him. He turned to Malevo, who was quite impressed.

"A mere being like you has transformed into a more supreme form? I won't lie, I'm fascinated such weaklings like _you_ could accomplish such things." Malevo spoke. "But it will _never _be enough to stop me!"

Malevo quickly shot a Dark Beam from his mouth. Super Sonic retaliated, shooting a powerful beam of light back at him. The two beams collided and caused a humongous explosion within the universe, destroying islands nearby and reducing them to crumbling pieces.

"GAAAAH!" Junior screamed as he flew back from the exposion. Super Sonic flew to him and caught him. He then flew away from the mess and headed to where Eggman was.

"I won't go down without a fight!" Eggman growled at the Destroyers. He continued firing at the oncoming assault, evading them as they tried to grab his Eggmobile. Eventually, a group of Destroyers grabbed him and started to attack. All seemed lost for Eggman until Super Sonic came to his rescue, tackling down the Destroyers and destroying all of them in a single super sonic boost. Eggman wasn't surprised by his sudden appearance, knowing Sonic would be able to get the job done.

"Go back to our world and help the others." Super Sonic demanded from him. He looked down to Junior. "I'm going to take you back home."

Super Sonic and Eggman departed ways, one heading back Sonic's world, the other heading to Mario's world. Super Sonic knew that Malevo was still alive. He would need a little extra help to finish him off.

And he knew just the person to ask.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be continued!_

* * *

**A/N: Some of you have been anticipating this moment throughout the whole story. Finally, it has come to be. Super Sonic has appeared! The final battle is just around the corner. But will he be enough to tackle the final boss? Wait for the next chapter to see what unfolds.**

**I also have a small notice. I have a new poll posted on my profile that I'd like you guys to check. It's something that could help me in my writing in the future. Your contributions are very appreciated!**

**Thanks for everyone's support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related materials. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	99. The Fate of All Worlds!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 99: The Fate of All Worlds!**_

* * *

_**Mushroom Kingdom  
**_

The rage of the war continued. Attacks were flying left to right as each side fought mercilessly. All seemed hopeless for the heroes. No matter how hard they tried to finish off the Destroyer army, more would come. Their efforts seemed minimal. The longer they battled, the more exhausted they became and soon they began taking a harsh beating.

"Get away from me!" Luigi cried out, swinging his hammer as he took a last stand against the Destroyers that surrounded him. The enemy began to adapt to their fighting, being more cautious against them and landing hits when they least expected it. Soon, Luigi's arm tired out and he had no choice but to rest, which gave the Destroyers an opportunity to attack.

"Get out of the way!" Wario shouted as he drove his car through the crowd of Destroyers. He drove up to Luigi, who was grabbed by Waluigi. He took a Bob-omb out and was about to throw it when a Winged Destroyer came from above and grabbed his arm. The two struggled as the Bob-omb's fuse shortened. At the last second, Waluigi dropped it, causing them to fly in the air as it exploded. They tumbled onto the ground, along with Wario's Car, which crashed into the ground, damaging it immensely.

"Ugh...thanks guys." Luigi groaned as they laid on the ground. Waluigi simply nodded, while Wario screamed and pounded on the ground, seeing the damages on his car. Luigi began to pray. "Please give us a miracle! We're hopeless against these Destroyers."

Peach tagged along with Daisy, Toadette and Catherine, focusing their attacks to take out single enemies at a time. It was the only way to ensure they could defeat them and reduce their numbers. But the Destroyers became stronger and started to overwhelm them. The girls had to resort to evasive maneuvers, sneaking attacks as they evaded the chasing Destroyers.

Mario and Yoshi fought alongside the Kongs, having to team up to take care a small group of Destroyers. Their stamina was beginning to decrease. Their fighting became sluggish as they ended up missing some of their attacks and suffering from hits.

"I...can't do this...anymore." Yoshi coughed. He began to feel dizzy and suddenly collapsed on the ground. Mario called out to him, but he wouldn't respond. Donkey Kong picked him up and fought his way through the Destroyers, taking Yoshi to a safe place to rest, leaving Mario and Diddy Kong to defend themselves.

"This isn't working anymore!" Diddy Kong called to him, shooting his Peanut popguns, which seemed to turn ineffective as they bounced off the Destroyers. He ran out of ammo and resorted to tackling them by boosting towards them using his barrel rockets. One Destroyer swiped at his pack, damaging it and causing Diddy Kong to lose control and crash land into a warp pipe out in the field.

Mario continued fighting by himself, throwing fireballs at the Destroyers and punching them away as they got close. A Winged Destroyer managed to pick him up. Mario began to struggle, only for the him to get slammed into the ground, losing his Fire Flower ability in the process. He simply laid their for a minute and watched the battle ensue. His friends were overwhelmed by the Destroyers as more of them entered the battle. Mario closed his eyes and began to accept their defeat.

"What are you doing? Get up!" Bowser called to him, spinning through his shell to deflect a few Destroyers and rushing to Mario's side. He stomped his feet in anger. "Don't tell me you are giving up! I expected better from you! Now stand!"

Mario simply laid there in defeat. Bowser began to growl in frustration. He may have wanted to see his arch-enemy defeated, but this isn't how he expected it to happen. Bowser shook his fists and began to roar out of anger.

All of a sudden, a bright, golden light struck through the dimension gateway and split through the crowds of Destroyers, taking them by surprise and annihilating them in a matter of seconds. The heroes were struck with awe as they looked up to the golden figure in the sky. It smirked at them.

"How's everyone doing?" Super Sonic spoke, slowly floating down to them. Thee Chaos Emeralds floated around him in a circle. He dropped Junior, who he brought with him. The koopaling turned to Bowser and called out to him.

"Papa!" Junior shouted, running up to his father and giving him a hug. The two were happy to see each other again.

"Sonic...why do you look so...awesome?" Luigi asked, who could only stare and point at him in amazement. Super Sonic explained how he used all seven Chaos Emeralds to transform into his super form. Luigi whistled in approval.

"Mario, I need your help." Super Sonic called to him, walking up to the fallen plumber. Surprised to hear Sonic's voice, Mario looked up to see him in his super form. Super Sonic gave him a smirk and held out his hand to him. "Don't tell me you've given up already. Come on! Let's teach that Malevo guy a lesson."

Mario hesitated at first, wondering how they would handle Malevo themselves. He went along with Super Sonic and grabbed his hand, which suddenly engulfed his whole body in a bright light. Mario began to transform. His red shirt and shoes changed into a golden-yellow colour. His blue overalls and red cap changed into a bright white, while the letter M stayed red. A white, flowing cape formed behind his back. A golden aura with sparkles appeared around him. Mario began to float above the ground as he felt an immense amount of energy takeover his whole body.

Mario was now Super Mario!

"What happened? Why am I like this?" Super Mario asked, looking at himself at his new form. The rest of the heroes were also in marvel at Mario's transformation.

"I shared the power of the Chaos Emeralds with you, allowing you to transform into super form." Super Sonic explained to him. This had put a whole new meaning to the title, "Super Mario Bros." Super Mario really dug his new transformation. He felt like nothing could stop him in with the amazing power he now possessed.

"Let's finish this battle!" Super Mario said. He nodded to his friends, who wished the two luck in their battle. The Super duo flew towards the dimension gateway and entered the Negative Dimension.

The final battle to decide the fate of their worlds was about to begin.

* * *

_**Negative Dimension**_

Malevo waited atop the bluff of his island, watching as his Destroyer army continued to enter through the dimension gateways and attack the other worlds. Once they finished off the heroes, nothing would stop them in consuming everything into darkness. Malevo had waited this for centuries ever since he was trapped within his dimension and forced to consume the dark thoughts from every other world to exist. It blinded him from the other possibilities, the other aspects of life that were good and made it worthy to live.

"These worlds do not deserve to exist. The darkness they truly hold will finally come to reality. The darkness will rise and take it's rightful place in these worlds." Malevo spoke. As the physical being of all dark thoughts, he would stop at nothing to expand the Negative Dimension into other worlds and turn the universe itself into a despaired creation.

He soon witnessed a sight he'd thought would never happen. Flying their way through the Destroyers and taking them out with no trouble were a duo of bright lights. Destroyers roared and hissed as they were defeated by these mysterious lights. Malevo could only wonder where these powerful beings came from. The duo of lights flew towards him. They were none other than Super Mario and Super Sonic.

"We're going to ask you one last time, and this time we'll be polite about it," Super Sonic spoke. Both he and Super Mario had their arms crossed as they floated in front of Malevo. "would you _kindly _stop your army from attacking our worlds?"

"Never! Your worlds must be punished. You are doomed to fall into darkness." Malevo roared at them. Were the duo foolish? Did they dare challenge him against his orders? "Why must you bother rioting against me? The two of you are blind! Allow yourselves to succumb to the darkness. The beings of your world possess dark sides in their minds. You should be used to the darkness by now."

"You forgot about the lighter side of our minds, which is far stronger than the dark." Super Mario explained. "It is true that we may think badly with our minds, but we use our better judgement to prevent ourselves from falling into it and instead do what's right. Our worlds may be a dark place, but _we_ choose not to allow it to happen."

"I look down upon your worlds. I offered you time to accept your fate, but you choose to fight back for your own reasons." Malevo spoke with a demonic tone. He spread his wings out and flew into the air. "I warned you. As a last resort, I will _kill_ the both of you, then I will find the ones you love so much and let them die a _slow_ and _painful_ death. Is that dark enough for you?"

"You monster!" Super Sonic shouted furiously. He and Super Mario charged towards him with full energy. Malevo charged and fire a dark beam of energy from his mouth. The Super duo dodged the attack and flew towards the dragon, only to be caught off guard by a barrier of dark energy that surrounded Malevo. They charged into the shield, only to bounce off of it.

"Try harder!" Super Mario suggested. The duo flew back and used all of their energy to boost into the energy shield at supersonic speeds, leaving afterimages of themselves behind, only to bounce off further away. Malevo laughed at their useless efforts. Mario shouted in frustration. "It's not working!"

"None of your powers will work against me!" Malevo roared at them. He fired another dark beam at them. It missed Super Sonic, but managed to hit Super Mario, who ended up flying back through the dimension. Super Mario shook it off and flew back.

"I'm okie-dokie!" Super Mario assured, giving a thumbs-up to Super Sonic. He still needed to adapt to his new super form. He was lucky he was blessed with invincibility. Super Mario decided to continue boosting into Malevo's barriers, but it was no use, receiving the same result as last time. "Mamamia! Nothing is working!"

"We need to think this over!" Super Sonic yelled to him. The Super duo flew away from Malevo, who chased after them and shot dark beams at them constantly. The chase passed by floating islands, through the cosmic stars and beside the distant rocky planets. The Super duo occasionally charged back and slammed against the barrier to see if anything different would happen, but still gained the same results.

"Let's combine our powers!" Super Mario suggested to Super Sonic. He nodded back to them. The duo flew closer together and started spinning clockwise parallel to each other. Their separate golden auras combined to form a large, light blue aura as their spinning became faster. They soon became a blur of light as they quickly charged back to the chasing Malevo. They drilled against the barrier, while Malevo continued to laugh at their efforts. Suddenly, the area the Super duo attacked began to bend as they pushed their way through the energy barrier.

A loud crash was heard as the whole barrier around Malevo broke into pieces and disappeared, rendering him vulnerable to attacks. The Super duo charged into Malevo and struck him in the centre of his stomach, knocking him back and made him fly through the dimension, causing him to crash into a floating island, breaking it apart into rubble. Malevo shook his head as he floated in space, shocked to what happened

"How were they able to succeed in breaking my barrier?" Malevo questioned. He looked over to the Super duo who were already charging back towards him. Malevo rose his hands and created dark, electric balls and threw them towards the duo. They dodged the dark energy balls and reached Malevo, and began attacking his whole body with a barrage of homing attacks. Malevo roared in pain as he tried to swat them away, but they were too fast for him.

"Enough!" Malevo roared. As he continued being attacked, he began to charge an immense amount of energy inside of him and began to glow a purple light around his body. Malevo roared as he released a blast of dark energy around him, causing to knock back the Super duo and destroy the islands and planets around him, even shaking the stars away.

"I wasn't expecting that." Super Sonic groaned as he rubbed his shoulder from the attack. Super Mario floated back to him as he shook his head. They turned to Malevo, who began to charge at them, breathing purple flames from his mouth. The Super duo dodged it and started an exchange of homing attacks onto Malevo. The dragon retaliated by swing his wings around, giving him much larger range and managing to swat the duo away from him. This exchange of homing attacks and wing slaps lasted for quite awhile.

"We need to think of a different tactic!" Super Mario suggested. Super Sonic decided to distract Malevo while the other thought of a plan. Super Mario quickly put his open hands together behind his back and began to charge a massive golden fireball from behind him. He yelled as the fireball spiralled towards Malevo, who had his back turned away and was hit, causing him to fall through the dimension before regaining flight.

Malevo became furious. How was he getting overthrown by this duo who were barely even his size? He began to go on a rampage, shooting his dark beam everywhere while throwing dark energy balls in every direction as he chased the Super duo.

"I think he's angry!" Super Sonic shouted to Super Mario. The duo became cautious as they were chased by Malevo, being careful not to get hit by any of his attacks. The duo decided to fly up to the bright, starry nebula above. Flying through the cloud of stardust and gases provided a different experience in the Negative Dimension. They swept through the nebula region, scattering the dust in multiple directions.

Super Mario suddenly flew up and did a loop-de-loop, flying behind Malevo as he contined chasing Super Sonic. He flew up to his tail and grabbed it, riding along as the dragon flew. Focusing on his strength, he gave out a grunt of effort as he pulled back, trying to control the dragon. His tail began to wave around furiously as Malevo tried to shake him off. Super Mario managed to control him and slowly began to spin him around in space. Malevo struggled to escape, but he was under Super Mario's control, before he was thrown away. Super Sonic flew towards the flying Malevo and boosted at him at a marvelous speed, managing to pierce through the dragon's body.

"GRAAAAHH! You pestering beings!" Malevo growled as he slowly breathed. He simply floated in the air as he covered his hand over the wound Super Sonic sliced through him. Suddenly, he began to chant in a low voice. Back in the lower part of the Negative Dimension, the purple energy crystals found within the islands began to glow and their energy was sucked out, all flowing up into the nebula where the trio were. The crystals energy formed around Malevo and was sucked into his body, giving him a boost of energy. Malevo roared as his dark body was outlined with a glow of red light around him.

"I've been going easy on you. Now it's time for you to pay!" Malevo roared. He suddenly turned towards the Super duo and gained terrific speed, charging at him with his wings spread wide open. The duo had no time to react and were knocked back by Malevo. The dragon managed to land a few hits on them, punching each of them throughout the nebula and hitting them with shots of his dark beam attack. Super Mario tried to retaliate by charging his golden fireballs, but he had no time as he were being knocked away each time he tried to focus. Super Sonic tried to sneak hits with his Super Sonic Boost, but Malevo became too fast even for him.

"We need to combine our powers again!" Super Sonic called out to Super Mario. The duo flew by together as they were chased by Malevo. The two began to charge light energy into their hands, creating a ball of light within them. Quickly turning to face Maleveo, they both fired powerful beams of light energy. Their beams combined to create one larger, more stronger beam. The beam managed to hit Malevo right in the face, causing him to tumble across the nebula and fall down into the gases below. Super Mario and Super Sonic took a moment to relax, wondering if they finally finished Malevo off.

"Give up! I have consumed all of the energy within the Negative Dimension into my body, raising my powers by over a thousand levels. Your attacks are useless on me!" Malevo roared as he floated back to their level.

The Super duo began feeling hopeless. None of their attacks were pulling through and they were getting savagely beaten. What could they do now? If they continued to fight like this, they would get no where in finishing off Malevo. They needed a miracle. They had to do this if they wanted to save their worlds, to protect their friends, no matter what the cost was.

"I have an idea, but you're going to have to follow me on this one." Super Sonic said. Super Mario nodded to him. The two floated side by side. Super Sonic rose one hand in the air and began to charge a ball of energy above him. Super Mario followed and did the same thing with the opposite hand.

The two began to think about their friends back in their worlds, knowing what efforts they were putting in to protect their worlds from the Destroyer army. The willpower they _all_ preserved in them matched no other power in the universe. The friendships that helped connect with one another, having that common goal to defeat evil and the experiences they shared to help strengthen their bonds was a unique and supreme virtue.

Both Super Mario and Super Sonic transformed those thoughts into power. The balls of energy within their hands gradually began to glow bright and grow bigger, soon combining into a humongous ball of white energy above them, almost to the size of a planet. The thoughts of friendship, devotion, love, determination, courage and harmony made up the power of the energy bomb the Super duo created.

"Time for you to die!" Malevo announced as he charged a powerful red beam within his mouth. He fired it towards the Super duo. Mario and Sonic screamed in effort as they threw their energy bomb towards Malevo. It made contact with the death beam and split right through it. Malevo continued firing his beam at the oncoming energy bomb, but it was no use.

The energy bomb pushed through the beam and hit Malevo, causing him to roar loudly in pain, engulfing his whole body in the process. The energy bomb gave a loud, screeching noise as beams of light emitted around from it and created a gigantic explosion within the nebula. It affected the gases within the space cloud, adding to the explosion to create a colossal one enough to shake the entire Negative Dimension and engulf it.

Mario and Sonic had no chance to escape, and were caught within the deadly effect.

_._

_.._

_..._

_To be concluded!_

* * *

**A/N: Posted this a few hours early, as I'll be busy by the usual update time. Consider this a little treat for you guys!**

**The epic penultimate of this story. Very drastic, in terms of action. Hopefully this final battle has left you guys satisfied. With one last chapter left, what will happen now? Did Mario and Sonic survive? Have their efforts saved both worlds? Come back next Tuesday to find out. Don't you just hate whenever I pull a cliffhanger on you guys? The anticipation is grueling, I know!**

**Thank you for all your support! Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

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_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the sole property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


	100. Heroes United Forever!

**Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!**

_**Chapter 100: Heroes United Forever!**_

* * *

_**...**_

_"Wherever darkness can be found, there is always a glimmer of light to show the way. It is a way to balance out the two elements. Light cannot be bright without the shadows, whilst darkness cannot be dim without the contrast of the light."_

The voice echoed into their heads. Mario and Sonic slowly awoken, finding themselves floating in a realm full of white, fluffy clouds that surrounded them. The two wondered how they ended up there in the first place.

_"These two elements coexist with one another to provide perception, to help give a sense of what is right and wrong. The light is associated with the good in the world. Darkness relates to it's counterpart, evil."_

The heroes looked around as they aimlessly floated in the mysterious realm, looking around to see who was talking to them. They saw no one else nearby.

"Hello? Who's there?" Sonic yelled out, cupping his hands together. Suddenly, a bright beam of golden light shone down from above them, piercing through the clouds. As the voice talked, the light flashed in sync with it's words.

_"I am the guardian of the realms. I control the connections between worlds."_ the guardian spoke. It had the soft, soothing voice of a woman. _"You are currently floating in the passage between dimensions. A limbo, if you wish to think of it."_

"Limbo? Does that mean we're dead?" Mario spoke. Sonic was also surprised. Had they died from the battle back in the Negative Dimension?

_"Worry not, as your game is not over."_ the guardian assured them._ "Although, you may have died from the battle within the dark realm, your super forms were able to keep your life forces intact. I was able to recover them in the leftovers of the ruined dimension and create new bodies for the both of you."_

"Uhm...thanks." was all Sonic could say. He still had to wrap his head around the fact that he had actually died in battle. He couldn't even remember the pain, if there ever was any. He was grateful that their super forms saved them. "So, do you mind telling us why we are here, oh great voice of this world?"

_"I brought you here to properly thank you for your efforts. If it wasn't for the both of you, the Negative Dimension could have consumed all other worlds into darkness."_ the guardian spoke. _"Even if I do control the life and connections between worlds, I cannot directly involve myself in what events happen inside them."_

Suddenly, many spheres of lights appeared around Mario and Sonic. Each sphere was a portal and held the life of a world within them. Connecting the worlds together were threads of light, attaching each world to many other worlds. The threads represented a gateway between the worlds and gave the ability to transport beings from one world to another through complex means and share to each other what they offered.

Mario and Sonic floated towards each portal, taking a glimpse of what worlds lied beyond.

One depicted a kingdom that foretold legends of a battle between an elf and an evil-demon. Another depicted a world where beasts controlled by trainers would battle each other. One world showed a group of graffiti skaters, while another contained adventurous monkeys in balls.

"Whoa! I didn't know there were _so _many worlds other than ours!" Sonic exclaimed, floating from one world to another to see what was held inside.

"What happened to the Negative Dimension?" Mario asked the guardian. On request, a dark, shadowy sphere appeared in front of them, showing what was left of the Negative Dimension. It was smaller than the other worlds, due to the damage it took from the deadly battle.

_"All that lies is the dark energy that floats around in the dimension. It is technically nothing at all but a void."_ the guardian explained. The defeat of Malevo meant that no lifeforms could be created, as he was essentially the dimension's Almighty Being.

"How are we supposed to get back to our worlds?" Sonic asked. The guardian summoned both Mario and Sonic's worlds in front of them. Their worlds had a thick thread of light connecting to each other. In each portal, they could see their homes on the other side. Mario saw the Mushroom Kingdom, while Sonic gazed down on Emerald Town.

_"Your worlds share something I have never seen before in other worlds._" the guardian began to explain. _"A strong connection between your people. The event that transpired these chain of events has strengthened the bond between your worlds."_

Mario and Sonic reflected back to the moment they first met. They and their friends grew such a strong bond with each other from their many adventures between both worlds. Collecting Power Stars in Mario's World, collecting Chaos Emeralds in Sonic's world, dominating against Bowser and Eggman in both worlds, enjoying the new sights each world offered that the other could not.

And all this was started from a robot who was bent on possessing limitless amounts of dark energy. He was deceased now, but maybe the heroes should have thanked him for giving them the opportunity to establish their friendships and exciting journeys they took.

"Geez, we sure had a lot of fun, didn't we?" Sonic spoke to Mario, nudging him by the shoulder.

"Yeah, definitely." Mario answered, with a gentle smile.

_"It is time for you to part ways,"_ the guardian spoke. Mario and Sonic hesitated and looked at each other, giving saddened looks. Would this be the last time they would see each other? They had just come from the battle of a lifetime, and now they had to part ways? They couldn't even celebrate together with their friends. It was all so sudden, it felt like it was unfair. But they knew that eventually, they had to go their separate ways.

"Well, I guess this is it," Sonic spoke. He gave out a loud sigh. He wished he didn't have to leave his friend. In his past adventures, he'd met with many companions that would come and go. If he was being honest with himself, he never got over those moments where they had to leave. Mario held his hand out to him, offering a final handshake. Sonic grinned and they both shook on it. "I'm going to miss you guys."

"Don't worry. Maybe one day we'll cross paths again." Mario said, attempting to cheer Sonic up. The two could only hope they would. If fate determined it, maybe one day they would see each other again. "Say goodbye to the others for me, okay?"

"Yeah, no problem. Do the same for me, will you?"

"Don't worry. I promise."

Mario and Sonic let go of each others hands and floated towards their respective worlds. As they entered, they both gave a thumbs-up to one another, which was the last thing they would see as they returned to their worlds. Once the heroes were gone, the thread of light that provided the connection between their worlds was cut and destroyed by the guardian.

The worlds became _permanently_ disconnected from each other.

_"It is for the best that they do not know."_ the guardian spoke. She knew the heroes would have understood her decision, even if it would greatly disappoint them. A tragic event like this could not happen again, and to ensure it wouldn't, she needed to cut ties between their worlds forever. She decided to keep them oblivious to the fact and leave them in bliss and hopes of seeing each other again.

* * *

His friends were surprised to the hero's return. Mario's body was found floating within the lake beside Peach's Castle. It had been a week since their friends last saw him enter the Negative Dimension to fight for their lives, and they assumed he was dead.

Mario slowly awakened. He was in a bed within Peach's Castle. Around him were all his friends who helped fight in the war. They were all relieved to see him wake up.

"I'm so glad you're okay Mario! I thought we'd never see you again." Peach cried out to him, hugging him by his side. She gave him a kiss on the forehead, which prompted Mario to smile widely.

"I've got to hand it you brother, I had a feeling you'd come back. Nothing could stop a fellow like you!" Luigi exclaimed, giving out a small chuckle as he lightly punched Mario's shoulder. "So what happened to Sonic and the others?"

"I'm sure they are safe back in their world." Mario softly spoke. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a large propellor outside. Looking out the bedroom's window, the heroes saw one of Bowser's airships floating out from the balcony. Mario panicked, jumping out from the bed and headed outside to the courtyard, with the others following closely behind him. Reaching the courtyard, Mario was surprised to see a huge, pink cake with white frosting being carried underneath the airship by a big claw. It dropped the cake on the ground, causing it to crush it's bottom, ruining it's perfect form and instead leave it a toppling mess.

"Noo! The cake!" Bowser shouted angrily, looking over the airship's side and seeing the mess below. He jumped down in front of the cake and stomped in fury. "Junior! I told you to be careful when lowering the cake!"

"Oops! Sorry papa!" Junior apologized as he jumped down beside him. Mario could only look at the two baddies in confusion. What the heck was going on? Bowser noticed the perplexed look on the plumber and simply grinned.

"Well, if it isn't the pipe lover? Enjoyed the nap of yours?" Bowser roared. He walked up to Mario and gave him an intimidating look, only to suddenly give him a big hug, squishing Mario in his arms. "Hah! I knew that you'd conquer that _stupid _dragon, you being persistent and all."

"Okay, Bowser, let him go before you squeeze him to death." Luigi called to him, causing him to drop Mario on the ground. Luigi helped him up and began to explain. "You see, after the whole war we had between the Destroyers, the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopa Troops have formed a temporary truce. We thought it was best after what everyone's been through recently."

"Don't expect to see me act like this again. Once tomorrow comes, I'm going back to being my old, evil self! So enjoy it while it lasts, plumber!" Bowser growled, before heading over back to the cake mess. Mario simply smiled. It would have felt weird seeing Bowser be "nice" to them everyday. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"What are you guys waiting around for? The cake is right there. Let's dig in!" Yoshi exclaimed, running up to the cake and cannon-balling into it, spilling frosting everywhere on the ground.

"Wait! We don't have plates or forks!" Donkey Kong told them. Wario laughed at him and slapped him by the shoulder.

"Who needs those when you've got hands! You're a gorilla, I thought you were an expert on this!" Wario exclaimed, jumping into the cake as well and taking a huge bite out of it. Donkey Kong simply shrugged and joined them. The others charged forward and began to eat the cake. They wouldn't let a big treat go to waste!

"After we eat, we are going to have a magnificent fireworks display tonight." Peach said to him, grabbing Mario's hand and leading him to the cake while everyone else was digging in. "Besides, we deserve a day to relax after_ all_ we've been through."

"Of course." Mario said. He took the moment to look up to the bright, sunny sky and wondered how Sonic and his friends were doing. After many adventures, the heroes had the chance to celebrate their victory and live peacefully for the time being.

But it didn't feel complete without the presence of the other heroes to share the moment with.

* * *

He slowly opened his eyes, welcomed by the looks of his friends. They had found Sonic washed up along the shore of Emerald Beach. He was taken into Cream's home and watched over until he awoke. They had waited anxiously for Sonic to return, and began to lose hope once the days passed, but his friends were extremely happy to have found his body.

"Hello there, Mr. Sonic." Cream greeted him, along with Cheese, who floated above him. Sonic laid in her bedroom and looked around, realizing he was back home. Standing with Cream were Tails and Amy.

"Sonic! I _knew_ you would come back! I just knew it!" Amy cried out to him, giving him a hug. Sonic didn't fight back and simply accepted the gesture. She could see from her eyes that she had been crying for him. "The others thought you were gone forever, but I kept hope that you'd come back, and you did!"

"It's sure great to see you're okay. I was sort of worrying I'd never see you again." Tails spoke, giving a smile. Sonic grinned back and patted him on the shoulder. Out of the blue, Tails gave a hug to Sonic. "It wouldn't be the same without you."

"It's okay buddy, I'm here now." Sonic said, soothing them with the sound of his voice. He got up from the bed and asked about the others. Tails explained they had returned back to their respective places. Knuckles was back on Angel Island, resuming his duty as it's guardian. Shadow and Rouge resumed with their jobs back in Neo Prison Island. Silver returned to his time line, while Blaze went back to her dimension, bringing along the Jeweled Sceptor with her. Team Chaotix was back to solving cases, as usual.

"They're busy right now and couldn't come at the moment. But while you were knocked out, we managed to get a get-well-soon card for you and have everyone sign it." Cream said, handing Sonic a plain, white card. He opened it and inside were the various signatures of his friends. In the middle was a message, simply saying: "To our favourite blue blur, we grant our best wishes. Never stop running!". Sonic smiled. It was a simple gesture, but it was a meaningful one.

"What about Dr. Eggman? What's he up to now?" Sonic asked, gently placing the card into his pockets. His friends shrugged. The last time they had seen him was after the war was over and the Negative Dimension rift in the sky disappeared. As they waited in the battlefield for Sonic to return, Eggman began to leave with Orbot and Cubot. He left the heroes with a few last words.

_"He'll be back. I just know it."_

"What happened to Mario? Luigi? Yoshi? Peach?" Cream suddenly asked, her eyes filled with wonderment. The room was silent for a moment, until Sonic simply shrugged.

"They're back home where they belong."

"Will we ever get to see them again?" Amy asked. Sonic sighed. He remembered the few last words Mario told him, about how they would cross paths again eventually. Was he certain with those words? Did he simply say them to ease the goodbye? Sonic could only hope that they would see each other again.

The war was over. Everything was back to normal. Well, sort of. The only thing that felt missing was the presence of Mario and the others. He knew that they were back safely in their world, but their goodbyes seemed so abrupt. Their friends didn't even get the chance to say farewell to one another. Only Mario and Sonic did. It felt a little unfair, but knowing that they were okay was a good enough closure.

"So guys," Sonic spoke, suddenly having a cheerful expression on his face. He pointed to the door. "Want to head to Empire City? I'm craving some of their chili-dogs right now!"

* * *

Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Time continued to go on. The heroes resumed with their lives after the crossover of their worlds. Nothing had really changed. Their duties were the same as ever. New adventures popped up from time to time and the heroes would tackle it with open-minds. The bad guys would come up with more diabolical plans and the heroes would thwart them as usual. It was a daily routine that they were always used to.

But some nights, the heroes would look up into the sky and remember the good times they had with each other. They missed the moments they shared and hoped that one day they would come together once again and relive those joyous times. Even if they yearned for it, they were grateful for the opportunity to meet each other and work together. But they couldn't grieve over the past, but instead look forward to the unexpected future and see what other great adventures awaited them. The best assurance they could bring to themselves was that their other friends were enjoying their lives to the fullest in their worlds, and they would want the same for them.

Even if they never saw each other again, their friendships that bonded them, their hardships they faced together, the memories they would hold onto and cherish, united the heroes forever!

_._

_.._

_..._

_The End!_

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**A/N: There you go. The final chapter of this epic story. Short and sweet!**

**I cannot believe this story has been going on for more than THREE years! I remember the day I got the idea of writing a Mario and Sonic crossover. I had a majority of it planned out, but I had my doubts on whether I could actually do it. There were moments through the development where I became overwhelmed and almost abandoned this story, but for some reason, the guilt of not finishing would come back to me and gave me the determination to finish this!**

**This may be the one and only Mario and Sonic crossover I do. And I would be okay with it. I've told the story I wanted to tell. I put in as much life that I could with the interactions between the Mario and Sonic universes. I feel like this is the best I could do with this crossover idea alone.**

** But that doesn't mean I'm finished making stories about these characters! ;)**

**I greatly appreciate all the support you fellow readers have given me! If it wasn't for you, I may have never pulled through with this story. Your readership has been a huge help and motivation! To those of you who have stuck from the very beginning to the end, I cannot show how much I am thankful to your commitment! Finally, I can put this story to rest and begin new ones!**

**Bye for now! :D**

**-Azurixx**

* * *

_**~I do not own any Mario or Sonic related material. They are the property of Nintendo and Sega, respectively~**_


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